212 Trip from Payonre in France, to St. Sebaftian in Spain, (Od. Ty 
The village where we flept, Les Aldules, 
had once belonged to Spain, afterwards 
became French, and was by the new lines 
of demarka:ion, confidered as neutral, or 
cmmon to both kingdoms; the bound- 
aries having been marked out both on its 
morth and {cuth fides. 
_. The engineer had the complaifance to 
fhow to us his plans of the Pyrenecs, as 
far as they were executed, which, by their 
@ppea:ance as. well as by his defcriptions, 
deemed to have been laid down with great 
minutenefs and accuracy. 
. . The operations in the field confifted’ in 
afcertaining the bearings and diftances of 
the leading points oj the mountains, by 
a feries of triangles, founded on a bafe 
previcufly meafured :—the whole per- 
‘formed with excel.cnt infruments, amongft 
which it was no fmall gratification to us 
to meet with fcme pro‘efledly copied 
from, originals of our celebrated Ram/- 
den. . 
When all the details of an accurate tri- 
_gonometrical furvey of the whole range of 
the Pyrenees, extending from the Bay of 
Bifcay, to the Mediterranean, a diftance 
of net lefs than 275 Englifh miles, are 
confdcred, the undertaking is fuch as mutt 
confer high honour on the fovereigns of 
both countries, by whom it was under- 
taken. 
‘The difficulty of choofing proper points 
of the mountains which might be acceffi- 
ble, and from which others fixed on might 
be obferved; the great expence of time 
and labour requifite for tranfporting the 
apparatus from one ftation to another; the 
clouds and fogs with which the fummits 
are frequently covered ; the great nicety 
required in alceriaining the angles of ele- 
vation between the correfponding points 
of obfervation ; and above all the impefii- 
bility of procuring a fufficient extent of 
level ground, at any intermediate fituation 
towards the middle of the range of the 
Pyrenees, on which to meafure a bafe of 
verification :—:hefe and many other difh- 
culties naturally prefented themfelves in 
the completion of this furvey. 
The operations we were told could be 
carried on only during four or five months 
in fummer ; and the French engineers em- 
ployed, were to receive their extra-pay and 
allowances: only for this period. 
The Spanifn cffiicers, on the contrary, 
had received a ftanding appointment for 
the whole year, fo that, as we heard, they 
feemed not to be ever anxious for the ter- 
mination of the cperations, 
The extent of the Pyrenees already fur- 
weyed in July 1788, from the river Bidaf- 
foa, on the weft, to the valley of Baigorrys 
was about forty Englith miles. A 
Soon after leaving Baigorry we quitted 
the Nive, which there turns north-weft, to 
join the Adour in the centre of Bayonne 5 
and, turning eaftward for a couple of 
leagues, through a well cuitivated vale, 
came to a plain or open {pace at the mcet-* 
ing cf feveral vallies, in the midft of which 
ftands the town of St. Fean Pied-du-Port. 
This town is fmall, built along the foot 
of a little hil, on whofe top ftands the 
cafile, a fquaie fortification. This work, 
occupying the weftern extremity of a low 
_tidge, and commanding the entrance of 
two irequenied paffes acrofs the Pyrenees, 
is confidered to be one of the keys of 
France on this frontier. It is called Pied- 
du-pcrt, from its being fituated at the foot 
of a puerto, or pals leading over from 
France into Spain, and defcending by the 
famous monaftery of Canons Regular of 
the Order of St. Augufiine, called in Spa- 
nifh Ronces-valles, but by the French 
of Ronce vaux. 
Roncevaux is celebrated for the defeat, 
in its neighbourhood, of the rear of the ar- 
my of Charlemagne in the end of the 
eighth century, by a fimall bedy of men 
commanded by Lupus, the third Duke of 
Gafcony. In this difcomfiture fell the 
renowned Rolando, nephew of Charle- 
magne, whofe adventures under this name 
as well as that of Orlando have been the 
fubje&t of numberlefs romances in the days 
of chivalry. 
The garrifon of St. Jean confilted of a 
regiment of infantry raifed during the pre- 
ceding war, but not put on the regular ef 
tablifhment of the French army. 
It was at firft commanded by the Prince, 
of Naffau, a man more noted for the va- 
riety than the merits of his fervices; wit- 
nefs his rhodomontades with his floating 
batteries again{t Gibraliar. , 
A detachment ofartillery is alfo ftation= 
ed in the caftle. 
The town is antient, and is fuppofed to 
occupy the pofition called Imus Pyrenzus, 
in the Itinerary of Antoninus, on the 
road from Pompelo, now Pamplona, to 
Aquz Tarbellice, or D’Acqs in Gaf- 
cony. ; 
It is the capital of the little country of 
Lower Navarre, lying on the north fide 
of the Pyrenees, being all that remains to 
France of the ancient kingdom of Navarre 
which belonged to the predeceffors of 
Henry IV, until that part which lies on 
the fouth fide of the mountains was feized 
by Ferdinand of Arragon, from John 
D’Albret, in the year 1512. | ae 
John 
t 
