Author of “A Book of Brittany,” “A Book of the Riviera,” etc. IT IS THE SOUL THAT SEES; THE OUTWARD EYES PRESENT THE OBJECT, BUT THE MIND DESCRIES. _LONGFELLOW_ With Twenty-Five Illustrations Methuen & Co. 36 Essex Street W.C. London First Published in 1907 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. THE PYRENEAN CHAIN 1 II. GASCONY 15 III. BAYONNE 30 IV. S. JEAN-PIED-DE-PORT 51 V. ORTHEZ 66 VI. PAU 85 VII. OLORON 114 VIII. THE VAL D’OSSAU 124 IX. LOURDES 134 X. THE LAVEDAN 152 XI. LUZ AND CAUTERETS 162 XII. TARBES 175 XIII. BAGNÈRES 189 XIV. THE VAL D’AURE 201 XV. LUCHON 214 XVI. COUSERANS 236 XVII. FOIX 245 XVIII. LA CERDAGNE 264 XIX. THE CANIGOU 272 XX. PERPIGNAN 286 INDEX 305 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS LA VALLÉE DU LYS _Frontispiece_ PAGE MAP OF THE PYRENEES 1 NATIVES OF ROUSSILLON 4 THE CASCADE, GAVARNIE 7 From a photograph by Messrs. Levy and Sons, Paris THE CATHEDRAL, BAYONNE 32 THE COAST, BIARRITZ 44 SAN SEBASTIAN 48 PAS DE ROLAND 54 THE BRIDGE, ORTHEZ 66 PAU 85 THE CASTLE, PAU 92 ROOM OF JEANNE D’ALBRET, CASTLE OF PAU 100 BETHARAM 112 THE BASILICA, LOURDES 134 THE TEMPLAR CHURCH, LUZ 167 From a photograph by Messrs. Levy and Sons, Paris LA BRÈCHE DE ROLAND 169 From a photograph by Messrs. Levy and Sons, Paris CHOIR OF S. BERTRAND DE COMINGES 220 CLOISTERS, S. BERTRAND DE COMINGES 226 LA CASCADE D’ENFER, LUCHON 232 LE LAC D’OO 234 VERNET LES BAINS 274 CHÂTEAU DE ROUSSILLON 286 GATEWAY OF THE CITADEL, PERPIGNAN 291 CATHEDRAL INTERIOR, PERPIGNAN 294 THE CLOISTERS OF ELNE 298 NOTE.--The illustrations are from photographs by Messrs. Neurdein frères, of Paris, except where other acknowledgment is made. PREFACE This _Book of the Pyrenees_ follows the same lines as my _Book of the Rhine_ and _Book of the Riviera_. It is not a guide, but an introduction to the chain, giving to the reader a sketch of the History of the Country he visits. [Illustration: PYRENEES] THE PYRENEES CHAPTER I THE PYRENEAN CHAIN The wall of division--A triple chain--Contrasts--Deforesting-- The Catalan of Roussillon--The Basque of Navarre--Roman roads-- The three ports--Central ridge--Trough to the north--Watershed-- Glacial moraines--Lakes--Cirques--Abrupt termination of the lower valleys--Cave dwellers--Dolmens--That of Buzy--Landes of Pontacq--The Iberian stock--Development of language--Auxiliary verbs--The Basque villages and people. The Pyrenees stand up as a natural wall of demarcation between two nations, the French and the Spaniards, just as the mountains of Dauphiné sever the French from the Italians. It has been remarked that these natural barriers are thrown up to part Romance-speaking peoples, whereas the mountain ranges sink to comparative insignificance between the French and the Germans. Over the Jura the French tongue has flowed up the Rhone to Sierre, above the Lake of Geneva, so the Spanish or Catalan has overleaped the Pyrenees in Roussillon, and the Basque tongue has those who speak it in both cis-Pyrenean and trans-Pyrenean Navarre. The Pyrenees are the upcurled lips of the huge limestone sea-bed, that at some vastly remote period was snapped from east to west, and through the fissure thus formed the granite was thrust, lifting along with it the sedimentary rocks. Consequently the Pyrenees consist of from two to three parallel chains. The central and loftiest is that of granite, but where loftiest is hidden on the north side by the upturned reef of limestone. On the south the calcareous bed is lifted in great slabs, but split, and does not form so ragged and so lofty a range. The Pyrenees start steeply out of the Mediterranean, which at a distance of five-and-twenty miles from Cape Creuse, has a depth...