‘We continued the pursuit till it was dusk.... I cannot estimate the extent of the enemy’s loss; we have taken six pieces of cannon and a great many prisoners. The numbers I cannot at present report; the whole country is covered by their dead. The army was in the utmost confusion when I last saw it passing the heights near Sault de Navailles, and many soldiers had thrown away their arms; the desertion has since been immense.’ The scene of this _débâcle_ is passed through on the way to Pau, but there is nothing at all to suggest the horrors of such a bloody retreat. There is an almost English feeling in the aspect of the country, the villages being tidy; and the large houses, standing in pleasant, well-kept, park-like surroundings, give a feeling of repose to the scenery. To the right, beyond the river, the landscape becomes hilly and dark with woods, and ends with a piled-up horizon of blue-white peaks touched here and there with a pale gleam where the sunlight falls on the snow. It is interesting to watch the change from tiled roofs to slate, and the high-pitched roofs with hipped ends and splayed eaves, entirely taking the places of the low roofs near Bayonne. Here and there walls built of round stones laid herring-bone-wise recall the cottages and barns of parts of the Sussex coast. The road keeps by the Gave, and goes very straight over the flat alluvial land of the valley until the beautifully situated town of Pau is reached. SECTION XIII PAU TO ST. GAUDENS, 61½ MILES (99 KILOMETRES) DISTANCES ALONG THE ROUTE Kil. Miles. =Pau= to Tarbes =38= 23½ [=Pau= to Lourdes via St. Pé-de-Bigorre =39= 24¼] [=Lourdes= to Tarbes =19= 11¾] =Tarbes= to Tournay =18= 11¼ =Tournay= to Lannemezan =17= 10½ =Lannemezan= to Montrejeau =16= 10 =Montrejeau= to St. Gaudens =10= 6¼ NOTES FOR DRIVERS =Casabieille= (19 kilometres from Pau).--A sharp ascent. =Ibos.=--The winding descent to near this village in the plain of Tarbes is dangerous. =Pau to Lourdes.=--The shortest route is along the road to Tarbes as far as Soumoulou, and then through Pontacq. The longer way mentioned above is more beautiful. =Tarbes to Montrejeau.=--A steep climb out of the plain of Tarbes; then several ascents and descents from one valley to another. =Montrejeau to St. Gaudens.=--Level after the steep descent on leaving Montrejeau. PLACES OF INTEREST ON THE ROUTE =Pau.=--A large modernized health resort, with splendid views of the Pyrenees; numerous first-class hotels, winter garden, and places of amusement; interesting château, built by Gaston Phœbus between 1373 and 1380, and altered by Henri d’Albret.