Nature and Art, June 1, 18fi7 ] 
A REMINISCENCE OF THE PYRENEES. 
165 
our northern hills. As we reached Marcadaou — 
i.e., the shepherd’s hut which goes by that name — 
the mist came on very thick, and the air struck 
damp and chill as we halted half an hour for a 
meal of goat’s milk and bread; and it was felt that 
it was time to push on, if we were to reach our 
resting-place for the night before dark. 
Leaving the Pantieosa road to the right, we now 
struck off nearly due south, following the course of 
the Gave, a river on the left. It was an ascent 
all the way ; vegetation grew more scant, and soon 
neither rhododendrons nor pine forests were to be 
seen, but in their stead huge boulders of rock, with 
here and there a grassy spot, affording scanty herbage 
for the goats which form the chief wealth of the 
mountaineers. The valley seemed to terminate in 
a cul-de-sac, with no apparent egress ; and no vestige 
of a dwelling, not even of a hut, was visible. Here, 
however, was to be our camping-place for the night. 
The guides pointed out as our nest a hole formed 
by two masses of rock, with another which had 
fallen from above resting upon them as a roof, the 
entrance in front blocked up with a few rough 
pieces of timber. It was a queer place for a night’s 
lodging, but it was the best, for it was the only one 
to be found. A dinner, however homely, is always 
welcome after such a climb as we had had to our 
mountain cave; and as soon as we had discussed 
this needful refresher, we were not sorry to stretch 
our weary limbs on the platform of rock, covered 
with an old cloak or two, which made our bed. 
But, alas for sleep or comfort ! those same cloaks 
swarmed with tieas, and proved one among many 
enemies to repose. 
At eight, p.m., while discussing some goat’s milk 
and bread, we were joined by Baranne and the two 
French officers, who had been out hunting all day 
without success. These made up our whole party 
to about fourteen, and closely packed we were in 
the miserable hole that formed our refuge from the 
cold. Sleep is not easily won in such uninviting 
quarters ; but in spite of fleas, in spite of the per- 
petual jabbering patois of the shepherds, who 
arrived one after another and proceeded to cook 
their evening meal ; in spite, too, of the smoke from 
the fire, which found vent only by a hole in the 
natural roof, we did manage to get an hour or two, 
if not exactly of sleep, yet of rest; and at daybreak, 
about four, a.m., a wash at a spring which gushed 
from the rocks just behind our cave, soon freshened 
us for another start. Now we got a clear view of 
the scene, which the last night’s mist had partially 
concealed, and a wild one it was, not unlike, though 
on a smaller scale, to the well-known “ Chaos ” near 
St. Sauveur. 
It was nearly five o’clock when we got fairly off 
for the spot where we were to await the izzards. 
Our course lay nearly south, directly across the 
mountains, towards Pantieosa ; we soon came upon 
what to me was a new feature — the glaciers. Hard 
as stone, and slippery as glass, to cross them is no 
child’s play. Every step must be cut with a 
hatchet, and the feet planted firmly in the holes ; 
the whole party move in single file, and, when 
there is danger of precipices or crevasses, are lashed 
together with ropes. There was but one of these 
ugly features on our route ; the glacier here was 
almost perpendicular, and at its foot was a half- 
frozen tarn, into which we must have inevitably 
rolled if we had made a false step. However, this 
obstacle safely surmounted, we passed directly after- 
wards from France into Spain, by a small breche in 
the mountain wall, which bounds the two kingdoms. 
From this spot a most magnificent scene opened on 
our view : in wildness and savage sublimity I have 
never seen it excelled, and rarely equalled, even in 
the Alps. In front of us, some three or four miles 
across, and perhaps seven or eight in length, lay an 
elliptical valley, shut in by a serrated wall of rock, 
which looked at a distance almost like a battle- 
mented fortalice. This valley was entirely snow, 
containing within its area no less than seven frozen 
tarns. Beyond the crest of the encircling peaks, to 
the south, stretched four ranges of mountains loftier 
still, some black with pine forests, others like the 
waves of the sea, tipped with white foam, and 
others, again, bare jagged granite peaks, gradually 
melting away into the hazy plains of Arragon, 
towards Zaragoza. . 
Traces of izzards had been found all along mu- 
track, but no game had been seen as yet. After 
pausing awhile to gaze on the wonderful scene 
around us, we pursued our way cautiously down- 
wards into the snowy valley beneath ; and now, a 
signal being given by a hunter on the heights above 
us, that izzards were in sight, all were instantly 
ensconced behind the rocks ; but the game went off 
to the left, and we saw them ascending a glacier, 
and disappearing through a breche in the granite 
wall which formed its boundary. As soon as all 
trace of them was lost we toiled on, till we came 
upon a few rocks rising like an island out of the 
sea of snow ; here we bivouacked and breakfasted. 
Another half hour’s climb brought us to the l-ocks 
which Baranne had pointed out as a suitable place 
of concealment. Here we waited four terribly long 
hours, a period more trying, if anything, than the 
time we had occupied in our ascent; for now the 
sun was high in heaven, and the heat was over- 
powering. There was no possibility of shelter, and 
we soon began to find our faces blistering and our 
eyes growing almost blind with the intolerable 
glare. We began now to think of retracing our 
steps, when suddenly seven or eight izzards came 
bounding across the glaciers towards some rock in 
front of us, but as yet far out of gun-shot. The 
traqueurs here made a great mistake, and entirely 
spoiled our chance of killing an izzard. Instead 
of descending, one on the right, the other on 
the left of the game, they both came down the 
same glacier on the right side, thus leaving the 
left open to them ; if they had done as they 
ought, the izzards must have been driven to pass 
directly in front of the rocks where we were 
posted, and in all probability within rifle range. 
In consequence of this error on the part of the 
traqueurs, the game escaped by a lower glacier, 
and made off by the side of one of the tarns to 
