ered
to fragments. The path winds in zig-zags through a labyrinth of
blocks, among which horse and rider appear like pigmies. The mountains
increase in majesty as Gavarnie is approached--the Vignemale with its
glaciers to the west; and the Pimene to the east, ranging among the
highest. Gavarnie is a poor village, boasting one inn, in humble
keeping with the place; poor, however, as it was, I was glad to draw
bridle before the door, for we had ridden fast and furious, as my
blood-stained spurs evidenced. I was about to dismount and recruit
myself with a flask of the best wine, when Jaques peremptorily forbade
such a proceeding. There was no time to be lost; a stirrup-cup and on.
He, however, dismounted, and went into the house for ice-staffs and
_crampons_, which were kept at the inn. Provided with these, and
partially refreshed by a glass of very good wine, we hastened on our
way. The morning continued most favourable; not a cloud obscured the
outline of the mountains, and the snow-crested Marbore towered aloft,
strongly pencilled against the deep-blue sky. Wonderful animals are
the Pyrenean ponies. Small in stature, and with diminutive limbs, on
they go, over ways rough enough to puzzle a goat, rarely pausing to
pick their steps, and as rarely stumbling. The path, about half-way
between Gavarnie and the Cirque, is carried over the torrent by two
terribly narrow planks, without any manner of railing. Over this frail
bridge, not three feet wide, my guide, much to my astonishment, rode
his pony; and as my _monture_ evinced no asinine disinclination to
follow, but, on the contrary, evidently regarded the proceeding as
nothing extraordinary, I slackened my bridle, pressed my knees a
little closer to the saddle, and committed myself to my fate. The
torrent rushed at a fearfully giddy rate some twenty feet beneath, and
the roar of waters was terrific; but my steed was proof against these
things, which would have tried the nerves of a pedestrian tourist, and
passed steadily over the narrow causeway as unswervingly as if it had
been the broadest highway in France. This was the last feat of our
horses; for, after a brisk canter, we dismounted in the arena of the
Cirque, and turned the animals to graze, a girl who had accompanied us
from Gavarnie engaging to look after them. We had ridden eighteen
miles, and I doubt whether the distance was ever accomplished in less
time.

To render the first impression of the Cirque or _oule_ m