shot through the chest, and the French general, Foy, here received his fourteenth wound (obelisk in his honour). Soult, though beaten, retired in admirable order to Aire, 'yielding step by step, and without confusion.'*

SECT. 19. ARBUS AND ARTIGUELOUVE, LESCAR, etc.

Arbus is a village of 800 inhabitants, situated midway up the hills on the left bank of the Gave, and nine miles from Pau (WNW.). Crossing the bridge and the whole of Jurançon (see Sect. 3), and then the wooden bridge over the Néez, you come to the Lalanne Hotel, where, leaving on your left the Perpigna road, you turn to the right, taking the remarkably varied and pleasant road which, through the whole of the Basque country, leads through St. Jean Pied de Port (63 miles) to Bayonne itself (100 miles from Pau by this way). The noisy and still impetuous Gave rolls and winds to your right on its wide bed of shingle, forming wild little islands here and there; you see between the oaks, chestnuts, acacias, and poplars which line the ever-winding road, fine vineyards and fields of maize; and on your left, an imposing range of hills, with gay villas dispersed all over them, protects you from the sun (at least in spring). At 4 miles you cross Laroin: just opposite the humble church, see the Gan carriage-road (6 miles), and some blue or white peaks near the Eaux-Bonnes.

The country opens and becomes quite flat. Immense fields of Indian corn, with woods here and there. Leaving on your right (6 miles from Pau) the Lescar suspension-bridge over the Gave, you wind your way to the long and scattered village of Artiguelouve (7 miles), and a mile beyond you see on your right the solemn grey castle of that name, built by a cardinal of the house of Foix, and recently repaired, after the

* See Napier, bk. xxiv. ch. 11.

mutilations of the Revolution. Its present possessor is M. Thierry. Close by, there are remains of Moorish (?) camps.

A long mile more takes you to the village of Arbus, once a dependency of the Marquisat of Gassion. Here leaving the high road, you ascend to the left, by steep and stony zig-zags, far from easy for carriages, which can, however, manage to reach the melancholy square old house called the château of Arbus, the property of the Talleyrand-Périgord family. It is half-way up the hill, just above the new church. It is so silent, so dilapidated, so mysterious, that it looks haunted. There are still some good tapestries of the Gobelins hanging and beating on the damp walls, a few broken armchairs, broken windows, plenty of spider's webs, a bee-hive in one of the rooms, and a gloomy little chapel with curious old books on theology and the Turks, etc. On the terribly old altar is shown a colourless dusty object, of which the shape alone can make you guess it was the mitre of a Gassion, bishop of Lescar. Still, old Arbus is a very nice place for pic-nicking, as there are stables, a large empty room for dancing, plates, forks and glasses, beautiful lawns outside, with a grand view of the valley of the Gave, and finally, an easy hill to climb, with a view far finer still over the Pyrenees. There is a very thick wood just above the house, by toiling up through which on hand and foot, or else following the easy track which sweeps round the western side of it, you reach the breezy summit of the hill of Arbus, a glorious place to see the Pyrenees, especially the Pic d'Anie (nearly south).

To return to Pau, you can pass the suspension bridge over the Gave (see above), which will take you to the Pau and Bayonne high road, a short mile below the once important town of Lescar (41⁄2 miles from Pau), built towards 980, and, as generally believed, on the site of the Roman city, Beneharnum, destroyed towards 845 by the Normans. However, the site of Beneharnum is much disputed, some saying it was built on the spot where Orthez now stands. Lescar was a

bishopric until 1789, and three of its bishops were cardinals, Its cathedral was founded in 980 by a Duke of Gascony, in expiation of a murder he had ordered to be committed. It is 200 feet long, and there is a fine mosaic pavement in the choir. Many sovereigns of Béarn were buried in it, among others Henri II., grandfather of Henri IV.; but the sepultures were all violated and destroyed at the Reformation: Montgomery's soldiers burnt the altars, and ravaged everything. Ruins of the once mighty fortifications of Lescar are still seen. It also had, until 1793, a college of Barnabites, who took the vow of never aspiring to church dignities. This order has produced several celebrated men, and still exists in Italy.

Near Lescar (on the hill to the east) stands a proud structure, with a fine park, and commanding a superb view of the Pyrenees. It belongs to M. Dariste, and is supposed to cover an ancient Roman camp, as Roman medals have been found in the grounds.

SECT. 20. BAYONNE, BIARRITZ, AND ST. JEAN
DE LUZ.

Bayonne is a cheerful, wealthy town of about 27,000 inhabitants, situated near the mouth of the historical river Adour, 63 miles from Pau by rail (3 hours), and 5 miles from the Atlantic, which is not seen, but distinctly heard. There are 20,000 inhabitants on the left bank of the Adour, and 7,000 (mostly Jews of Spanish origin) on the right bank, with a very handsome bridge between. The town in some parts looks very Spanish; but it is clean. The view from the citadel (right bank), built by Vauban, is superb. Go and see the Cimetière Anglais, where lie the remains of the British regiments killed in the disastrous sortie of 1814.

Bayonne, though so often besieged, was never conquered

by arms, and still deserves its proud motto, Nunquam polluta. See Lord Howden's magnificent house (Villa Caradoc).

Hôtels du Commerce, St. Etienne, des Ambassadeurs, etc. There is a beautiful walk down the left bank of the Adour, Allées Marines: it leads to the sea, and to a conical hill covered with pines, whence there is a grand panorama of sea and mountains.

The cathedral is well worth visiting. See also the arsenal, theatre, etc. etc.

British consul, Graham, Esq. Steamers, in summer, to San-Sebastian (7 hours). Omnibuses every hour (winter) or half-hour (summer) to Biarritz (5 miles), a picturesque and very healthy little town of 3,652 inhabitants, with houses as white as snow, and streets running up and down in graceful disorder. Wherever you go, your eye meets the great blue Atlantic on one side, and the immense line of the distant but distinct Pyrenees, from the peaks of Bigorre to the mysterious and hazy hills of Bilbao, a range of 130 miles at least. With only an hour to spend, the best thing you can do is to ascend the light-house, visiting the Emperor's villa on your way. Even in mid-winter, Biarritz is now full of English and Spaniards.

The surf is tremendous. In the calmest weather (November and December) a ground-swell comes from the high seas, apparently without cause, and waves as big as hills, fifty feet in height, shake the coast as they break, like the shocks of an earthquake. A small port of refuge is being built at immense. cost, by sinking artificial blocks of 36 and even 48 tons' weight; but the little that has been done in five years to check the sea's fury is most discouraging.

Hôtels d'Angleterre, de France, Gardères, des Ambassadeurs, etc. Two reading-rooms. There is also a very good and comfortable English Club, in full view of the sea. Biarritz has three first-rate bathing establishments. See, a mile beyond the one of the Côte des Basques, Lord Ernest Bruce's snow white and oriental-looking villa (Marbella).

F

The railway station of Biarritz is La Négresse (2 miles), on the Paris and Madrid line. From La Négresse it is 2 hours by rail to San Sebastian, and only 20 minutes to St. Jean de Luz. It is only ten miles by the road to St. Jean de Luz, a now comparatively deserted town of 3,000 souls, though it once had ten times that number. It then possessed a fleet of whalers, and sent its vessels to Spitzbergen and Iceland. Louis XIV. married there in 1660. Napoleon I. also visited it. Wars, and still more the waves, have half ruined this once flourishing town, where however a few English families, loving nature and peace, now happily live through the winter, generally very mild.

Hôtels de la Poste, de France, etc. English service, both at Biarritz and St. Jean de Luz.

Cambo is a lovely and quite English-looking village, 13 miles from Biarritz, on the banks of the little river Nive, which flows under the shade of lofty trees, between two wild banks of rock, with endless verdure beyond, on all sides, and mountains above. Plenty of fishing, and good hotels.

In one long day, and with, of course, a little savoir-faire, all these places can be visited by the Pau tourist, between five a.m. and eleven o'clock p.m.

N.B. For more details, see Germond de Lavigne's 'Biarritz et autour de Biarritz, in Hachette's collection.

For any excursions into Spain, see Henry O'Shea's firstrate Guide.