also go home westward by Gan. Descend 1 mile north of the chapel, and once on the Lourdes and Oloron road, follow it to the left; 3 short miles from here to Gan, whence to Pau 5 miles. If you want shade, the Pardies road is best. If you prefer the view, go by Gan (a little shorter).

SECT. 3. GUIRAUDET (PERPIGNA).

Better ask leave of the landlord, M. Daran, if you want to enter the domain. He lives there, and is very hospitable. But it is much to be regretted that this simple formality of asking leave, which is in all countries a duty, has occasionally been dispensed with at Pau by strangers who ought to know better.

Perpigna covers the top of that high and well-cultivated hill south-west of Pau, just behind Jurançon. By carriageroad it is three miles. Height, about 650 feet above the Gave (1,300 above the sea).

A hundred yards beyond the bridge, turn to the right, where the road begins to wind round and round for more than a mile, as if it had lost its way, through the village of Jurançon, near the end of which you cross the Néez on a wooden bridge. Straight before you, see the Lalanne Hotel, where the road divides. The one to the right goes to Arbus, and through all the beautiful Basque countries to Bayonne, by the left bank of the Gave. You take the left, where you very soon begin to rise, by long and gentle zig-zags, always in the shade. (There is a short cut for pedestrians through the vineyards on the right.) An ascent of a mile and a halı takes you to Guiraudet by its western side. See the grand old trees, invariably planted to the west of every lofty habitation in the country, as a protection against the Atlantic gales. You can go back to Pau by descending on the north eastern slope of the hill. But you cannot drive that way, only ride. A steep stony declivity, with anemones close by

C

(but not wild), takes you down in twenty minutes to the Eaux-Bonnes road, a mile and a half from Pau, after crossing the Néez on a little wooden bridge, near a miniature cataract. Perpigna now belongs to M. Daran, cousin to the famous doctor of that name.

There are plants of very southern climates all about the place, aloes, bamboos, etc., and plenty of shade. The view is probably, with that from the Morlaàs hill, the grandest and most extensive that can be had from any part of the country about Pau; indeed it may be called one of the most imposing in Europe; and there is a bench on the road itself, where the view is finest.

Just under you, and all lower than yourself, so as not to hide anything, a hundred graceful hills are seen undulating like the undecided waves of a tormented sea, and covered with lawns, woods, and vineyards, with white villas scattered in every direction, like flakes of snow. Beyond all that, walling the whole of the southern horizon, 120 miles of snowy peaks stand up, like a long army of gigantic and frozen divinities; but though so cold above, they seem to smoke below, in the blaze of the sun, as if they stood in the tropics; and just under the snow-line they are as blue as the ocean.

Many peaks are seen from here, which are invisible from Pau, and to the left of the Pic du Midi you distinguish perfectly well the snowy col de Suzou (8,000 feet), where horses are left in the ascent of the Pic.

Westward, the view extends nearly as far as the Atlantic. The hills of St. Jean de Luz are in sight.

Should you wish to drive home by Gan, you can do it thus: At about two hundred yards west of Guiraudet, strike due south, facing the Pic du Midi de Pau. After a few minutes, the road divides close by an inn, where you can get beer, lemonade, and milk. Go left. Violets. The road often divides again, but you cannot go wrong by facing the Pic du Midi.

At three miles from Guiraudet, you leave on your left the pretty Villa Monthioly, and also (a little before it) a carriage road descending into the Gan valley, about four miles from Pau.

The road now improves, becomes wider, and then gradually turns westward (right), where it goes down into the Las Hies valley, to meet the Oloron and Gan road, at one mile from the latter and four miles from Guiraudet (see Map). But if you are on horseback, turn down to the left as soon as you see Gan below. A mile of steep and sharp zig-zags takes you straight to the first house of Gan (on the Pau side), passing close by the churchyard.

Although both of the roads leading (by either bank of the Gave) to Bétharram are exceedingly picturesque, it seems a mistake not to go by rail, as the scenery along the line is much the same, and by saving more than two hours you can dispose of nearly the whole day on the spot, and be back at Pau before six o'clock. As, however, it is the fashion to drive, let us take the high road.

Bétharram (often called 'Lestelle,' Stella) is a nice little village at the foot of the Pyrenees, in the valley of the Gave, south-east of Pau, fifteen miles by Bisanos, sixteen by Gélos and Nay. By rail it is sixteen miles, and the station (Montaut-Bétharram) is one mile from the hotels.

After passing Bisanos, you leave on your left a fertile and graceful hill, on which proudly stands the château of M. de Franqueville, who was the first to climb the Maladetta (11,168 feet).* Then you follow the long curve of the Gave, here covered with islands and poplars. The villages you cross are innumerable, and before you (south-east) the

* Highest peak in the Pyrenees.

Pyrenees rear their snowy heads up to 9,000 and 10,000 feet. Observe especially the Pic du Midi de Bigorre (9,439 feet), which is always in sight (south-east), and far to the right (south) the very pointed, but easy, Gabisos (8,468 feet).

At about four miles from Pau, see on the left the wooded little hill called Cæsar's Camp. At five miles, you pass Assat, where you might cross the Gave over a suspensionbridge, and so join the Nay road. Then (9 miles) comes Baudreix, in a very fertile plain. It was twice destroyed by the Gave (1760 and 1772). Ruins are still standing of a convent of Récollets' (Recollecti), who used, in the sixteenth century, to send missionaries to India, and supplied regiments with chaplains.

After thus winding on a perfectly flat road for ten miles through ten villages, you begin to see Nay on the right, with the hill and modern castle of Angladure. The plain widens, and the Pyrenees seem to rise higher at every step. On a very clear day you can see with the naked eye part of the mountain road between Argelès and the Eaux-Bonnes, halfway up the Pic de Gabisos, to the left of which it makes a long horizontal curve at a height of 5,000 feet.

Twelve miles from Pau, you pass the modern castle of Coarraze, a great place for pic-nics, and which will be described in another chapter.

Here, crossing the Gave, you go through Igon, on the other bank. Beautiful view in all directions. Feel the mountain air. The plain begins to undulate, and two more miles take you to Lestelle and Bétharram (Hôtels de France and de la Poste), fifteen miles from Pau. Better breakfast at once, and so have all the day free to roam about this truly enchanting country. You are just at the foot of the mountains, and on all sides you see grass, trees, rushing waters, or rugged peaks. It is something like romantic parts of Ireland or Scotland. See the graceful bridge over the Gave, so often sketched, and looking so sad and so venerable, with its old grey stones, its tormented lines, and the long green masses

of ivy drooping from it on the deep blue water below, in a hundred festoons. Under the arch, see hills and fields in the distance. It was built in 1687. The church near it looks well outside, with its marble façade and spire; but inside it is of bad taste, and overloaded with ornaments. Burnt in 1569 by Montgomery, it was rebuilt in 1615 by the bishop of Lescar. There are curiosities worth a visit in the 'trésor of the sacristy (marriage veil and gown of the Comtesse de Chambord, etc.). Many valuable things were given to this church by Queen Hortense, mother of Napoleon III., and the statue in the niche over the entrance door was a gift of the archbishop of Auch (seventeenth century). Behind the church is a seminary for missionaries (Bétharramites). Pilgrimages in May.

Bétharram appears to have been founded in the fifteenth century; but the origin of its name is much discussed. In Arabic, Beit Haram means 'holy dwelling.' So it might have come from the Moors. Others maintain it came from the Hebrew, Beth-Aram (house of the Most High). But it is probably nothing more than Béarnais (Beth arram, 'beautiful branch'). A young girl had fallen into the Gave, where she was fast sinking, when she made a vow to the Blessed Virgin, and immediately saw the branch of a tree floating by. She caught hold of it, and was saved.

It is a short and pleasant walk of a mile from the hotel to the summit of the Calvaire hill, passing by nine pretty chapels, which look like miniature cathedrals at a distance. They contain figures of real merit. Three grand crosses crown the hill, whence the view is very beautiful.

The hazy plains of Pau, the foaming Gave tumbling down its rocks from the barren conical hills of Lourdes, but overshadowed as it approaches St. Pé and Bétharram by an almost impenetrable jungle of forests, and finally the Pyrenees, of every hue, shape, and height, wherever you look to the south, constitute an admirable picture, which almost makes you forget the very handsome chapel, a church in