Beneath me lay the town of Bagneres, and, far as the eye could reach, extended the plain of Bigorre, with the clear waters of the Adour marking their track like a silver thread.

On the slope of a neighbouring mountain the wild-pigeon hunters were spreading their nets; for the _Chasse aux Palombes_ is nowhere so successfully followed as in this part of the Pyrenees.

It is a simple sport; but highly productive to those engaged in it.

I pursued my route towards the summit of the mountain, the "_Penne de l'Heris_," as it is still called, retaining its Celtic name.

To do so, it was necessary to plunge into the thicket, and for a long time I made my way scrambling over the slippery surface of mossy rocks, as best I might, by the aid of the roots and lower branches of the forest-trees.