As I have not seen any of these dances, nor the peasants in their holiday costumes, I have some difficulty in imagining that there is either beauty or grace amongst them. At the Eaux Bonnes, our female attendant wore her red-peaked _capeline_ in the house, which had a singular effect, but was by no means pretty: indeed, the only impression it gives me is, that it is precisely the costume which seems to suit _a daunce o' witches_; and cannot by possibility be softened into anything in the least pleasing to the eye. All the peasants I saw at different periods of the year had a remarkably slovenly, dirty, squalid appearance; and, except in the instance of one little girl of about thirteen, I saw none who had the slightest claim to beauty, or could excite interest for a moment. There is a humble, civil air about the people in the Vallée d'Ossau, which propitiates one: the _berret_ is always taken off as a stranger passes, and a kind salutation uniformly given. But, beyond this, there is nothing worthy of remark as respects the common people, who appear to be a simple race, content to work hard and live poorly. Our guide pointed out to us a village, from the valley, perched up on a height in the midst of snows, where, he said, the inhabitants, who were all shepherds, _were very learned_. "Not one of them," said he, "but can read and write; and, as they are always in the mountains with a book in their hands, and have nothing to interrupt their studies, they know a great deal, and are brave _gens_." Probably Gaston Saccaze the naturalist belongs to such a fraternity. CHAPTER IX. COARRAZE--ORTON--THE PONT LONG--LES BELLES CANTINIÈRES--MORLAAS--THE CURÉ--RESISTANCE TO IMPROVEMENT--UZAIN--LESCAR--REFORMATION IN NAVARRE--TOMBS--FRANÇOIS PHOEBUS--THE MOTHER. "A très lègues de Pau, a cap à las mountagnes Aprés abé seguit gayhaventes[34] campagnes, Sus û Pic oûn lou Gabe en gourgouils ba mouri Lou Castel de Coarraze aüs oueils qu'es bien ouffri." WITHIN a pleasant drive of Pau is the Castle of Coarraze, where the youth of Henry IV. was passed, under the guardianship of Suzanne de Bourbon-Busset, Barronne de Miossens. Of this castle nothing now remains but one tower, on which may still be traced the motto, "_Lo que ha de ser non puede faltar_," from whence is a magnificent view _into_ the mountains. Of the Castle of Coarraze, it will be seen that more marvellous things are told than that Henri Quatre passed much of his childhood there. [Footnote 34: Smiling.] Froissart has immortalized it as the scene of one of his romances of Orthez; and this is the tale he tells of its lord: