F R A N C E.
Mountain
Pyrenees.
lutnns rolling into the valley. ®^j4|abit;ant'S.. ,y^e^e, (fpri^nately^ en-
gagedj in the ^elebratiQH^of mLdfoja^rner^eve^ around ikt^feme
diftance,0. ThefE.mountains ate in ^ip^teE^exppfed ^ta drq^dful fnpwy
hurricines,-called aclrs^ which in a few. hours. g-bdl|tgrate the raffipefofrand
even the preetpiera, and defeend.ingi te fe e ^ a .th s a n .4 ,coa&BiQi'the
inhabitants-boutheirAwpllings, till.a commu'nication can b,ei0j^epedf|5pth
iheir neighbours', fometimqS'in the.fo.EBa. of-an. arch u h d e t'itb e .v ^ p a f s
©f, fnow. ■ Wret'che'd’-th e ; t r a i l e r , w h o fh u s (Overtaken. .* Hjig ^ath
difappears, the precipice cann9^'bebidiftinguilbed!.fECpi,4he«;tfeygli; ijf he
'l a n d he-is'chilled,--and 1>uried if J ^ prodeedidflMSieve-fightffailasaihidft
the fnowy dark,n'efe ;-his refpiratiopais^ ifn p e d e d ^ ^ > h e a d -v b4gdme|
giddy, hfe falls andiperUhes. ■?'■ In fummer, tkvu^dp^ftor m§;,a£e-.i^ p S fnt
and terrible,'and'accompanied wish.torrents o fifeg e hail, swh^|!^|i^roy
theff&its and flocks, which for fix' montHK,5pa{^UT'ef|®n»the mountains,
guarded by fttepherds, who have tempsrateyicabiips- ’o f tu rf anidt-%ed,
. ftyled ^aroTzx.
The Pyfen'ees rerhain to be . defcibed. 1 This vaft ehaip1^‘feno-'forh'fand’
celebrated Cnee the day's 'bf H e ro d o tu s ,^ f^ .T e 3bq%G*deBed p i t |^ ^ ^ a l
juftice>s belongpng^he/ftffTrarice’ o r f^ ^ ^ p h -V h u ^ a s tSM ife fff e o -
dud:ive-and interefting parts_aye^onttfieTl|leb©f France, 'andlheMatlrati
have exerted-themielves in the defcriptiffe| wMiJe %hb|^Jd P ,Sffai:i1,-JM've
been filent, it feems.’a f lead equally proper to. introduce the delineation
here;.which fhall be chiefly derived from the recent accounts of Ra-
mond and Lapeyropfe11. T o the furprize o f naturalifts, the Pyrenees
have been found to prefeni -pafcareotls' a b p ^ an e d s ib ^ ^ ^T v ^ ffi^ lL s ,
near or upon their higheft fummits, which 'are On the centre of the
chain.-. Mont Perdu is confidered as the higheft elevation of the'Pyrenees,
afeending above the fea 1751 French, toifes, or about 11,000
feet. Engiifk. T h e Cantgou formerly ufurped that honour, though it
exceed not ”1440 toifes. Other noted heights are Tu'ecarroy, Mar-
1 ' V oy. dansles. Depart. Gani p. 24. Qjie vaft block. o f Jlone^ppjfeet jdn;g.;arfd':'2.6.tlrict,
being too Heavy to roll; funk vertically, and the (hock Teemed an earthquake even at' the. diftance
o f a league. Another mountain is laid to have recently funk and difippeated in the S.- of
-i. f
- 1». Jouriial des Mines, No. 37, p/35.. f |
||fh o re ,
C H A P . It.- N A T U R A L - G E O G R A P H Y .
bore', the pic de Midi, the pic d’Arni, the Niege Veille, the. Vigne*
Male, La Breche de Roland,-&c. ■* The Pyrenean chain appears at a
diftance like a fhaggy ridge, prefenting the fegment o f a circle fronting
France, and d e fending at eac 1 extremity till. it difappear in th e ;
ocean and Mediterranean A Thus at St.' Jean de Luz only high hills
appear, and in like manner on the-leaft, beyond the fummit Ganigou,
i f elevations gradually diminifli. The higheft fummftsr are crowned
with perpetual fnow. Blocks d b granite are iiHcrf.perfcd, with vertical
l|kdsv argillaceous and cafc (pec us, the latter primitiv 1 or fecondai y ,
and .fupplj ing the m a r b le |||b ;.(i:ampan and Antin’, of beautiful red'
fpottedwith white, though the', geiieral mountain mafs be grey. To
the S. and-W, the Pyrenees prefent nothing but dreadful fterility, but
on . the N. and E. the defeeut is’ more gradual, and iffqrdsb fitcqufenfc*
wdoiR.Andhp lftm eMvrBUrdcs. th e dreadlM* fall ®h»r‘t)ekv;iindenriineil*
they afaexp@Ibd to the impetftqusl&kcenb
<0 yaftv.maffe^©f Ip9»w;T ^kb ^valkhclfest in dSwifferlarid, ‘
thebs^atieisfand bther;tefrifcblf^ftiEes ‘^frib&:A»I{Sk-' > *
. «Aplbrflwg * t b 1 RameridA the' f mount Perdu abdund*
with ta a f km fpoilsf< and-muft bave\b<Jep^©$^eed b f the fea obfer4
v a 't i |h |^ J k ^ ,
befsflas- egb’srrneb tiften' a ffqm ^ th e , form .pf) perpepdicplas
wais^frosi. L ® o tf ^® a fe e f iiEibeightr; and.<thotfnow^V«^ ^ridfgM
cieri^bmcrtMLitbc di ff icul ty‘nor -did bhcrfc naturafiils ,attriiT;tJteduirM
mit^©tig.bbth'ey^could;ribferv'e th^tfftbbbpcki(^5Gfp©nSLlgd>m.fbrm'iaijd
n k f e ^ v i s h ^ b o f ^ f i ^ t e A b n g b la f feature €>%} t^e ,Py-
r^ eb d bM ftS 'o f« what arej®led‘Ao«Ar, or twall§|difp©fed in '^ e b c d la r
•MSnJi‘B^SttlSsi^ '1''C0lnbd^rable lkke, more
tKaSg^jJbsSlfefet above wbic-b«tbpoytaj'is^
the eaft intrp?"the Spanifli.valley'©f*BpQpffi-i and which the, tj?ayellqr-s
esafiftefr .asnalprbof: that Mont;-EerduAr^a^ belongs to. Spaip^arid that
Tucckirdydfsl-li's th e ■ boundary. 'i?Tbe"beft rdagapaf. fb^ .Py.rpMpps ^
- ®ee ’n te e fame Journal, No. 46; p. 757, an ultimate o f other Pyrenean elevations. *
11 Vo y. dansles'Dep. No. 67, p. 4. 5 « Journ. des Min. ut
*7 $
P yrenees.
Mont Perdo.
# ;3 erroneous,