lway, then in course of construction, who took them
over the works, and accompanied them as far as Tours. They soon reached
the great chain of the Pyrenees, and crossed over into Spain. It was on
a Sunday evening, after a long day's toilsome journey through the
mountains, that the party suddenly found themselves in one of those
beautiful secluded valleys lying amidst the Western Pyrenees. A small
hamlet lay before them, consisting of some thirty or forty houses and a
fine old church. The sun was low on the horizon, and, under the wide
porch, beneath the shadow of the church, were seated nearly all the
inhabitants of the place. They were dressed in their holiday attire.
The bright bits of red and amber colour in the dresses of the women, and
the gay sashes of the men, formed a striking picture, on which the
travellers gazed in silent admiration. It was something entirely novel
and unexpected. Beside the villagers sat two venerable old men, whose
canonical hats indicated their quality as village pastors. Two groups of
young women and children were dancing outside the porch to the
accompaniment of a simple pipe; and within a hundred yards of them, some
of the youths of the village were disporting themselves in athletic
exercises; the whole being carried on beneath the fostering care of the
old church, and with the sanction of its ministers. It was a beautiful
scene, and deeply moved the travellers as they approached the principal
group. The villagers greeted them courteously, supplied their present
wants, and pressed upon them some fine melons, brought from their
adjoining gardens. Mr. Stephenson used afterwards to look back upon that
simple scene, and speak of it as one of the most charming pastorals he
had ever witnessed.

They shortly reached the site of the proposed railway, passing through
Irun, St. Sebastian, St. Andero, and Bilbao, at which places they met
deputations of the principal inhabitants who were interested in the
subject of their journey. At Raynosa Stephenson carefully examined the
mountain passes and ravines through which a railway could be made. He
rose at break of day, and surveyed until the darkness set in; and
frequently his resting-place at night was the floor of some miserable
hovel. He was thus laboriously occupied for ten days, after which he
proceeded across the province of Old Castile towards Madrid, surveying as
he went. The proposed plan included the purchase of the Castile Cana