Pot de vinaigre 5 0 Livre de l'huile d'olive 6 0 Sac du sel 30 0 Aux pauvre 30 0 {Pour deux laquais et la mulette 18 0 {Au valet pour boire 1 0 En {À Tarbes pour la couchée de lundi 4 10 0 Voyage {Un relevé pour la mulette 8 2 6 {Un fer pour la mulette 5 0 {Aux nomads 1 10 0 Evidently "la mulette" was a very necessary adjunct and required quite as much as its master. CHAPTER III THE PYRENEES--THEIR GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY One of the great joys of the traveller is the placid contemplation of his momentary environment. The visitor to Biarritz, Pau, Luchon, Foix or Carcassonne has ever before his eyes the massive Pyrenean bulwark between France and Spain; and the mere existence of this natural line of defence accounts to no small extent for the conditions of life, the style of building, and even the manners of the men who live within its shadow. The Pyrenees have ever formed an undisputed frontier boundary line, though kingdoms and dukedoms, buried within its fastnesses or lying snugly enfolded in its gentle valleys, have fluctuated and changed owners so often that it is difficult for most people to define the limits of French and Spanish Navarre or the country of the French and Spanish Basques. It is still more difficult when it comes to locating the little Pyrenean republic of Andorra, that tiniest of nations, a little sister of San Marino and Monaco. Some day the histories of these three miniature European "powers" (sic) should be made into a book. It would be most interesting reading and a novelty. Unlike the Alps, the Pyrenees lack a certain impressive grandeur, but they are more varied in their outline, and form a continuous chain from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, while their gently sloping green valleys smile more sweetly than anything of the kind in Switzerland or Savoie. They possess character, of a certain grim kind to be sure, particularly in their higher passes, and a general air of sterility, which, however, is less apparent as one descends to lower levels. The very name of Pyrenees comes probably from the word _biren_, meaning "high pastures," so this refutes the belief that they are not abundantly endowed with this form of nature's wealth.