ACROSS THE PYRENEES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10536, 10 August 1912, Page 4

ACROSS THE PYRENEES.

(By A YOUNG NEW ZEALANDER.) The long chain of the Pyrenees, of which one has such a splendid view at Pau, had filled me with a great longing really to go into them and on into the country beyond, that mysterious land of light and colour —Spain. Great was my joy to find that a three days' expedition had been organised for Easter by the Bearneee Walking Club, to start from Ixtasson, a village in the middle of the French Pays Basque, over the mountains to Iran in Spain, and to return by quaint old Fuentar.abie.

Our train left Pau at midday on Easter Saturday, and our party consisted of fourteen, all French with the exception of another English girl and mys'elf. We had a very capable and charming capitaine in Professor Saint Martin, whose daughter was the only French girl wiiih us. French girls walk very little j and when I expressed a little surprise to a courtly old gentleman, to find her the only French girl, he made the gallant response, which was mixed with a little pride, " Mademoiselle, the feet of our French girls are too small to be able to walk long distances."

The journey from Pau to Bayonne is very pretty, with the snowy mountains in the distance, and, running down below, the Gave of Pau. This stream has its origin is the famous Grotte of Lourdes, whose waters (they say) accomplish each year so many marvellous miracles. I have met people who have actually seen the lame walk and the blind see after bathing in the water of the Grotte.

On nearing Bayonne. the Gave broadens considerably and changes its name to Adour| At Bayonne we entrained for Ixtasson, a village in the heart of the French Pays Basque. This province, with the adjoining one, Beam, has often been called the Garden of France, and has, the reputation of being the most beautiful part of La Belle Franca. We saw the Somes that

two of France's most famous authors hare built for themselves in this region, those of Pierre Loti and Rostand. The house of Rostand at Oambo is most picturesquely situated on one of the coteaux (foothills) of the' Pyrenees, in the Pays Basque. It was here that Rostand heard a certain contentious cock continually "rowing, which gavo him the idea of - writing a play about birds, culminating in his famous "Chanticler." Pierre Loti's house at Hendaye, which we saw on our return journey, is built on the bank of the Bidassda just befor* it joins the sea, and has a magnificent view. On- tho left,' the sea; in front, on the other side of the river, Fuentara, with its grim old fortress standing out in relief, and surrounded in the distance b'y the. outlying spurs of the Pyrenees. On our arrival at Ixtasson we were given ample proofs of the well-known French gaiety of spirit, the journey from the station up to tho accommoda-tion-house, in spite of heavy hobnailed boots and bulky haversacks, being accomplished on the light fantastic too. Some danced fandagos, others mazurkas, but the majority as their own sweet will listed. The old-fashion-ed accommodation-house turned out to be surprisingly comfortable, and our menu maintained . the French reputation in th© culinary line. The edict was issued directly after dinner to turn in very wisely, when one thought of the four o'clock start the next morning. This, however, could not bo accomplished without a final dance, regardless of the fact that hobnailed boots are not. the best of footgear, to dance on polished floors with.

The next morning we were disappointed to find it very cloudy and foggy, and unfortunately it "did not clear up sufficiently the whole day for us to have a good view. On tho other hand, it is far more characteristic, this view o$ the Payß Basque of the Pyranees in the mist; it is certainly far oftener enveloped in the fog than the sun. Tho effect of the mist on the. mountains, sometimes lightening'them up considerably, and always changing, gave to the landscape a peculiar individual charm which had something mysterious in it. This part or the Pyrenees has been the scene of many exciting struggles between the contrabandos (smugglers) and the carabenos (excise men)/ Only fifty yeara ago the soldjers of the king dared not set foot in these mountainous regions owing to the wonderful 'organisation and strength of the contrabandos. Now, owing to the telephone and modern means of communication, the carabenoa go everywhere, though it is still at personal risk, and one hears of carabenos sometimes being shot. The duties on materials, spirits and tobacco are very high.; On a trimmed hat going into Spain 15 posatos (12s) has to be paid. Considering the hour of our start and tho fogginess of the weather, I was hoping to see some heavily-laden contrabandos, but we saw nothing moro exciting emerge mysteriously through the fog than two women leading a pack donkey I On leaving Ixtasson we gradually ascended the Vallege de la Nive by the Pas du Roland, through a very desolate and beautiful gorge, with a mountainous torrent rushing below. Very occasionally we passed a solitary Basque house perched on the mountain side. Their nouses are generally exceedingly old. very irregularly built, and with walls very much warped through old age; their whole appearance is extremely picturesque. Their windows are narrow, with green window-shut-ters, and each year their high walls are re-whitened with lime. The roofs of red tiles generally project some distance in front of the house to give shelter to the little wooden balconies, generally two or even three in number, placed one underneath the other. These balconies have several uses—as a drying ground for clothes, as a playground for children, and it is from these balconies that much of tho Basque courtship takes place. This mysterious raoe of Basques, whoso language has no analogy with any other language in Europe, whose customs and habits havo remained the game through countless ages, could not fail to interest us exceedingly. Physically they are a very tine race, and both men and women are really goodlooking. The men are rather lean and weather-beaten, always clean-shaven, and with piercing blue eyes. The women hare & splendid carriage, due to their carrying everything on their heads. They have magnificent hair, always very well dressed, and never wear a hat of any kind; the men, on, the other hand, never go bareheaded,' but always wear a large blue cap called a beret.

Their great national game is pelote, and each tiny village has its pelote court. This game is pjpyed agamst a stone wall with a small ball the size of a tennis ball, only very hard and covered with sheepskin. Only the hands are used, and the objects of the players is to place the ball so as to be missed, at its rebound from the wall, ly their opponents. Each team consists of three players. Much excitement is shown over these matches, and great is the rivalry between the different villages. The ties of the Championship of the Basses Pyrenees was then being played off every Sunday at Paus and is attracting enormous crowds. Tho Basque is a very devout Roman Catiholio, and the most hardened contrabando, after an exciting night's smuggling, would not think of missing the Sunday mas 3 the next morning. In the church the women sit down below and the men mount from the outside of the church and sit in a gallery above. Th« Busque is a very hard-working, bon«Bt man—smuggling is not lookad upon as dUhonesty but as something to be proud of, ai to carry it out successfully it is nsc«s»ary to have strength, power of endurance and courage. Up in the mountains the life is a very hard one, and they must necessarily live very frugally; but in spite of this they seemed to be very self-respecting and contented with their lot.

After ascending the Paa de Roland for some distance, wo struck off into a narrow mule-track, which sometimes led us across mountain torrents, sometimes through a # copse of chestnuts, which form an important article of food.; and then 'through groves of beeches, and on till we left all tre©3 behind and were only amongst the heather and bracken and a species of coarse grass. After fire hours' steady walking we arrived at the frontier, which was marked by a largo gray stone, which separated Franco from Spain. Hero we had our well-earned breakfast, while Professor Saint Martin reconnoitred with map and compass to find our way through the fog. We should havo had a splendid view hero over Spain if only the sun had been kinder. We began to descenfl by the Col de Mayo, and after some time again began to pass solitary farmhouses. Generally there were numerous pigs in the vicinity, and some big gentle vaches (oxen), which take the place cdf horses in these regions. Rabbits ara raised here as an article of food in the same way as we rear fowls for the table.

Eventually we ascended out of this land, of clouds and began to get warm and dry. Eliponda was the first village we arrived at. Those of us in front were immediately stopped by a Spanish officer in plain clothes, who wanted to know many things; where we came from, what our haversacks contained, what our business _ was, etc. Fortunately Professor Saint Martin had obtained the necessary passports and documents to prove that we were only harmless individuals with no fell intention of exploring the Spanish frontier.

all the fog and much of the wildness behind ana descended into a land of flowers. The banks on eithor side of our road were often covered with primroses and violets, one solid mass of colour. In the fields we noticed several large plots of linum, making a lovely patch of pale blue colour. It is from this plant that the peasant makes many of bis clothes. We now constantly passed through small villages and were constantly exchanging "addios" with the peasants. We arrival at Vera soon after five, and found the coach waiting which was to take us to Irun. Our road led through the gorge of the Bidassoa, which is certainly very fine. Both it and the Pas de Roland reminded me very much of New Zealand, but I certainly think that our New Zealand scenery is infinitely grander than that' of the Pyrenees and Bearn. But on the other hand their quaint little villages, their picturesque peasant life, and the great quantity and beauty of their wild flowers gavo an infinite charm to their landscape which we lack. Wo con- | tinued to follow the Bidassoa down, passing on the way the Island of Faisans, where Louis XIV. and Philip IV. sitmed the Treaty of the Pyrenees In 1659; and on to Irun, at which wo arrived late in tho evening. In spite of our forty kilometres' (thirty-two miles') walk and forty kilometres' drive, it wa3 found to be impossible to end our splendid dav without one final dance—such is the endurance and gaiety of spirit. The next morning we walked to Fuentarobio, which, although only separated from France by the estuary of the Bidassoa, still preserves ita essentially old-world Spanish character. In 1638, with a garrison of 700 men, it very heroically withstood for several months a siege of the French under Conde, who commanded 3000 men. The old castle* benrs ample proof of the fierceness of the atack, the walls being covered with the marks of the* cannon-balls.

We passed through Fuentarabio on to the lighthouse at Cape Figuer, which has also been the scene of much fighting and bloodshed. The road here was very lovely; sheer down below was the sea, above a , green hillside, often changing to a creamy colour owing to the immense numbers of flowering asphodels. At the lighthouse we had a splendid view over the Bay of Biscay. On the ritrht one saw Biarritz, and on the left San. Sebastian lay. Wo rowed across the Bidassoa in the afternoon and landed on French soil again at Hendaye. W© caught th© train there for Bayonne, and from there back to Pau, at which we arrived late on Monday iiirrht. was in excellent spirits on our arrival: no one complained of fatigue,, and all joined in praise of our eimply "splendid expedition.