After crossing a fine bridge, about half-way up the valley, the road takes a spiral direction, called _Le Limacon_, the buttresses which support it being remarkable for the solidity and excellence of the masonry; and having made our way to the summit, the peak of the Monne above Cauteretz became visible for the first time since leaving the Tourmalet.
At Cauteretz we merely stopped to breakfast, my object being to visit the Lac de Gaube, at the foot of the Vignemale.

It was Sunday morning, and a fair was being held in the market-place, the principal articles for sale being the many-coloured chaplets manufactured at Betharram: there were many pretty faces in the little stalls, and many sweet voices offered their wares for sale; but I resisted the temptation--the more readily, perhaps, from knowing that the glass beads would have very little chance of remaining unbroken in a scrambling mountain-ride.

About half-a-mile from Cauteretz we fell in with a party of dragoons, bringing their horses from the mineral springs, whither they are sent--like other invalids--for cure, from the Haras of Pau and Tarbes.
The fine animals looked in excellent condition and spirits, and seemed to have benefited wonderfully by the visit.

Passing the baths, we ascended the bridle-road above the Gave de Marcadaou, with dark forests of pine on either hand--a favourite resort for bear-hunters.

The great charm of this road consists in the numerous cascades which mark the course of the Gave; they are, without question, the most beautiful in the Pyrenees, where the mountain-falls are, for the most part, deficient in volume.