112 Trip from Bayonne, in France, to St. Sebaftian, in Spain. (Sept. ty’ 
mules alone, excepting fome referved by 
nature for the fole ufe of the adventurous 
f{muggier, who by thefe contrives to con- 
vey from France to Spain, and from Spain 
to France, his wares of fimall apparent, 
but of great real value. 
We employed above an hour and a 
half, at the ordinary ftep of the mules, in 
gaining the fummit of this pafs. The 
road is cut in zigzags up the fide of the 
mountain, which is very fteep, and in ge- 
neral clothed with fereft, excepting to- 
wards the top, where we halted and alight- 
ed to relieve ourfelves and our cattle, and 
toenjoy the grand profpe&t around us. 
Looking torward to the fouth, we dif- 
covered a deep valley, extending from the 
bottom of the mountain; and, at a dil- 
tance, a range of mountains, forming 
more than a femicircle round from our 
left to our right. Of thefe, fome were 
xtended in long ridges, but the greatett 
number fprung up in lofty peaks far 
above our elevation, 
‘Turn ng round to take a farewell look 
of France, the view extended acro!{s the 
plain of Ainhoué and the winding gullies 
by which we had mounted. We could 
trace out the courfe of the rivers Adcur 
and Nive, the fitvation of Bayoune, and 
a boundlefs extent of the flat fandy heath, 
calied Les Landes, which fill up, with 
little interruption, the wide tract between 
Bayonne and the mouth of the Garonne. 
To the north-weft we faw, asin a map, 
the Bay of Bifcay, with S:. John de Luz, 
Fontarrabia, and the Sierra de Jayf{quivel. 
The defcent on the fouth fide of the 
Pafs of Urdaix is fhorter, and confequent- 
Jy more fieep and painful than that on 
the north, the road in general follow- 
ing the rugged honey channel of a tempo- 
rary torrent; but in.abcut ano her hour 
and a half, we arrived {ately at the bot- 
tom, and entered a coniiderable village, 
called Maya, feated at the head of a 
preity vale of its name; which, a league 
farther on to the fouthward, falls into 
another more extenfive, called Val de 
Bafian. 
As the day was far fpent, we pufhed 
"on at a {mart pace for our inn at Elifendo, 
another village, which we reached foon 
after nine, and enioyed a good fupper and 
good be eds, two things with which we 
had not been t2reatened by our friends on 
the north fide of the Pyrenees. 
Next morning at four o'clock, leaving 
Elifondo, we travelled another league, and 
then began to afcend a hill on our kit; 
there quitting the Val de Baflens which, 
for ferulity, culture, and population, has 
few equals in this diftrict of Spain. The. 
villages are frequent, large, and well-built 
of ftone ; the people have an air of eafe 
and. contentment 5 many ,AnG faid to be 
rich, in confquence of expeditions made 
in early life to America or India, where 
they acquire moderate fortunes, and on 
their return to Spain, feldom fail to fix 
their 
abade among their relations and 
friends in the Val de Bafian. 
This. valley is finely watered by the 
Bidaffua, into which fall a number of 
lively collateral fireams from the moun- 
tains. 
From this valley the road leads over a 
broad irregular meountam, of great eleva- 
tion, bur affording no views, bur thofe of 
oiher huge uafhapen mafles like ittelf. 
Along the way-fde, acrofs the uneven 
plain on its funimit, are erc€ted itone_ pii- 
‘lars, eight or ten feet high, whofe tops, 
if ftanding above the fu:tace of the win- 
ter’s [nows, ferve as beacons, cr buoys, 
to guide the travelier in that fealon acro!s 
this dreary traét. 
Great part of this mountain is covered 
with torelis of oak, beech, and chefnut, 
with a few pines, walnuts, and cork-trees, 
cailed in Spanith cwercho, evidently trom 
the Latin quercus. 
Although now and thena few ftraggling 
fheep and goats arédilcovered in the bot- 
toms, yet the whole traét is faid to be en- 
tirely uninhabried. 
A lively French traveller, fpeaking of 
another paflage acrofs the Pyrences, ules 
terms ve i, applicable to this: ‘¢ On every 
fide (fays he) are rocks, and pines, and 
ech fe Wilk, oh fee novhing.— You hear 
nothing.——-You fecl yourfelf alone in the 
world *’ 
Having travelled above four hours over 
this mountaio, we at laft defcended into 
a valley, with a torrent running fouther- 
ly, thereby thewing that we had crofled 
the centre range of the Pyrenees. 
This valley. prefented a flrong’ contrat 
to thufe we had hitherto feen. 
rugged, ftoney, and unproductive, with 
no water, but from this. temporary tor- 
rent, Ceflitute of wood, and varied only 
by fume decayed hamlets, and ruinous 
cortages. 
We dined and halted three hours at a 
fulitary ion, or venta, in the bottom 
burnt up by the fun, and then proceeded 
for Pamplona, following the ecurle of.a 
{mall ftream, the valley, in many places, 
barely allowing room for the road. 
At the fouthern extremity of a narrow, 
gorge, which croffes a range of low hills, 
is.aviliage, called Villalba, fiom, whence 
we 
It was: 
