and the Adour; the last running through Tarbes. Another wet day-which prevented our seeing the mountains: passed fine woods of oak, and chesnuts: carriage broke down about half way between Tarbes and Pau.

Hôtel de France, at Pau.-The promenade, which is in front of the hôtel, is extremely pretty; and, to the south, has a lovely view over the river, called Gave-de-Pau, 'and the valley beneath; it was covered with the richest pasture land and fine woods; and beyond was the line of the highest mountains, in beautiful contrast of colours, from the dead white of snow, to the various shades of the nearer rocks; and the Pic-du-Midi de Pau is the most remarkably shaped mountain of any visible from hence.September the 1st.-I passed a most interesting day in going over the Château, which stands magnificently overlooking the river and valley, and the royal stud, which is a fine establishment on the opposite side of the Gave. One stable consists of a line of fifty stalls, and appeared to me as well kept as an English stable. The Château has a venerable, lofty, red, square brick tower, which differs in archi

tecture, completely, from the rest of the building, which resembles much the corps-delogis of the Château at Nantes: the room where Henry IV. was born still exists; also his nursery, and the boudoir and dressing-room of Jeanne, his mother: the different views from the windows of the Château are delightful: the boudoir has a cross light; one window looking over the valley, with a view of the Pic-du-Midi de Pau, the other down the river, and over the fine wood, called the park. The staircase is handsome, the ceiling of stone much carved; a knotted rope of stone formed the bannisters. Napoleon found this interesting old place a barrack, and kept it so: at the time of the Revolution it was completely gutted, and all the furniture destroyed, not by the people of Pau, but by commissioners appointed for the purpose. The cradle of Henry is a large turtle or tortoise-shell: it was hidden by the people at the time the Château was dismantled, and was afterwards restored: they have still the greatest veneration for Henry; for example, among many, I find the following, in one of our travelling books, entitled "Resumé de l'Histoire du Béarn," &c. "Sur

un piedestal d'une statue de Louis XIV., que possede cette ville (Pau), on trouve cette inscription, en langue béarnaise: Celui-ci est le petit-fils de notre bon Henri. Les citoyens de Pau avaient d'abord sollicité la permission d'ériger sur leur Place une statue du Béarnais : la Cour leur ayant accordé en place une statue de Louis XIV., qu'ils ne demandaient pas, ils firent graver cette inscription remarquable, qui exprime à la fois et leur dépit contre le roi despot, et leur admiration pour le meilleur des princes."

September the 2nd.-Left Pau with regret— a lovely morning-we met the country people bringing in their goods to the market: stopped a moment to go up to look at the remains of the Château at Coroasse, where Henry passed his infant years, under the superintendence of La Baronne de Miossens, and where he frolicked with the children of the neighbouring village, who used to call him Henriot. Only a square tower now remains; but a modern country-house is close to it. The day's journey brought us more into the mountains: passed through many villages: forest of

Lourdes, oaks, walnuts, and chesnuts: fine view of the Château of Lourdes. Pierrefitte,

the last poste-aux-chevaux this way in France: travellers going beyond Pierrefitte to Cauterets, St.-Sauveur, &c., are obliged to return through it. The red cloth worn by the women is very pretty; in winter it is let down, and forms a sort of cap and cloak; in summer it is doubled in many square folds, and placed on the top of the head, rather projecting over the eyes, and serves as hat or cap. Road out of Pierrefitte alarmingly steep; the valley very narrow, with the Gave running rapidly, at a great depth beneath us :-arrived at Cauterets.

September the 3rd.-Off at eight for the mountains, in a chaise-à-porteurs; met people of all descriptions, and with all kinds of diseases, returning from the different baths: some in covered chairs, some in open chairs, on horseback, or on foot. The first baths, on ascending, are those called La Rallière; the next, Le Petit St.-Sauveur; the third, Le Pré; the fourth, Mahoura; and the last, La Fontaine du Bois, where my carriers stopped to rest. As we got gradually higher, the fir-trees began;

and still higher again, they grew to the tops of the mountains we passed, and appeared to have nothing but the bare rock to spring from. The grass is of the finest texture (if I may so express it) I ever saw, and of the most brilliant green; and here I found the same kind of rhododendron I have seen in the Alps: the rocks are of granite. Passed the cascade of Cerizet; but deferred going down to it till our return later in the day, when the sun would add much to its beauty. We continued ascending, sometimes almost perpendicularly, till we got to the Pontd'Espagne, which consists of trunks of fir-trees thrown across a deep ravine, under which dashes the water just escaped from the rocks above, and from another side-branch: the great body of the cascade falls first over a narrow ridge of rocks down upon a wide, flat platform, become perfectly polished by the continual pouring on it of such a body of water: it then rushes over the sharp ledge in a fine mass, down to the precipices below, over rocks of beautiful and various colours, caused by the lichens and masses of rock-plants attached to them. At the Pont-d'Espagne I had a relay of carriers, who took me on to the Lac de