row and deep; the Pic-de-Bergond on the left: crossed at l'Echelle a bridge; the road very narrow, and at the brink of a frightful precipice; at the bottom of which rushes the Gave passed through the valley of Pragnères: houses scattered about-beautiful grass. The village grotto and cascade of Gèdre: the cascade of Arroudet, on a mountain on the farther side of the Gave, falls, first, in one long stream about half-way down, then breaks and looses itself, and appears again in seven or eight different falls still lower down. The next thing we arrived at was le grand Chaos, which is, in fact, a fallen granite mountain, split in its fall into fine enormous masses, and is well named. The Brèche de Rolande in front of us: caught a view of the glacier of Vignemale. Arrived at the little village of Gavarnie, but found our journey not completed; for the falls of Gavarnie are beyond again, full an hour and half.

At this point, one of my carriers became obstreperous, and tried to persuade us that the village was the extent they ever carried travellers to: however, he was soon convinced that we were not to be trifled with, and that he would gain

little by refusing; so, after a short time, we proceeded; got into a flat, along the side of the stream, which bears every appearance of having been, in times long past, a lake. Cascades on all sides; some that do not look wider than a ribbon, others of greater volume; all sparkling gaily in the sun beyond the plain rises a steep round hill, covered with grass, with juniper, heath, and the dead flowers of the Iris, which must have been beautiful, from their colour and quantity. I here also observed a flower I had never seen before; and whether it were dead or alive, I cannot tell; the form struck me as being exactly like that of a China-aster; its size about the same; it grows quite close to the earth, and has little or no stalk, the colour like brown holland: I do not think it was a dead flower; for when I tried to gather one, I could not; it was perfectly stiff and strong, and each petal had a hard prickly point; but not knowing any thing of botany, I can only thus describe ignorantly; it may be a plant well known to the more learned. In looking through Ramond's Voyage au Mont-perdu, I find he says thus:-" Mais ce que j'ai rencontré avec le plus de plaisir,

fut une passerine nouvelle que j'avais découverte cinq ans auparavant dans le port de Gavarnie, et que j'ai retrouvée depuis au voisinage de la Cascade, je viens d'en publier la figure et la description.-Passerina Nivalis." Whether the one I saw is the plant he here describes, I know not.

I here dismissed my carriers, and began to climb the hill, thinking I should be able to accomplish reaching the fall; but the heat was so excessive, it being mid-day, with not the smallest shade, that I was forced to give it up; and, after going on about half an hour, I sat down, whilst my companions continued. The view I had, from where I was resting, of the fall, was very fine; the mountains form a circus surmounted by the glaciers of Marboué; the rocks appear like a succession of gigantic walls, so steep and precipitous they are; the height the cascade falls is said to be 1200 feet: after refreshing ourselves at the inn, we returned to Luz; having been absent on this excursion twelve hours.

September the 6th.-For the third time,

passed through Pierrefitte, on our way to Bagnère de Bigorre. Every where making hay,the third crop the weight the men carry on their heads is surprising; and in this manner the crops of hay are gathered in: often we saw small ricks moving away on a pair of legs, which is all that is left visible of the human form. From the excessive steepness of the meadows, the common method of carting would be totally impracticable.

Met a tourbillon, as we drove through the valley of Lourdes, which carried the dust up till it seemed to reach the clouds; which latter, I must add, came down, very obligingly, part of the way to meet it; and from a lovely warm, clear day of sunshine, almost instantly the heavens were shut in by black clouds; and, for several minutes, the dust was so thick, that our view on all sides was quite impeded. I never before saw so instantaneous an effect produced by wind or weather: the wind was also bitter cold. After passing Lourdes, the Castle of which is of Roman construction, we got into a plain; Spanish chesnuts, oaks; and after some time arrived in the beautiful valley of Campan,

richly cultivated. Bagnère de Bigorre very large establishment of baths; a very pretty promenade: here also they manufacture woollen goods of all descriptions, from the coarsest kind of handkerchiefs for the peasants, to the finest knitted and netted goods.

September the 7th.-Left Bagnère de Bigorre, and pursued our journey to Toulouse, which town we reached the following day: from thence on, by Narbonne, to Montpellier, Nismes, Arles, Toulon, Nice, and by the Corniche to Genoa; and as I have not time at the present moment to revise and correct the notes made during the rest of my Tour, I shall take leave of my readers, and humbly beg of them to read the fragment with indulgence.