Charlet accounted for the superstition in a very simple way.

As smuggling is constant amongst the mountaineers, so near the Spanish frontier, large fortunes, comparatively speaking, are often made; and accident or envy often deprives the possessor of his suddenly-acquired wealth, who may lose his all by an information, or an unsuccessful venture.
Two leagues from Bagneres brought us to Sainte Marie, where the roads separate,--one leading to Luchon, the other, to the right, across the Tourmalet, to Bareges; the latter, which we followed, here makes a very sensible ascent, but continues passable for carriages till we arrive at the little village of Grip--the last cluster of habitations on this side of the chain which divides the valley of Campan from that of the Bartan.
It is a wild and lonely place, and the loneliness of its position is increased by our being able to mark with precision the spot where cultivation ceases and nature asserts her uncontrolled dominion.

Here the road ceases altogether, a bridle-path alone conducting across the still-distant ridge, called the Tourmalet, which is crowned by the remoter heights of Neouvielle and the Pic d'Espade, from whose base flows the Adour--a slender but impetuous stream, whose course becomes visible only as it issues from a dense forest of black fir, which stretches half-way up the mountain.
The ascent to the Tourmalet occupied about two hours; and at high noon we dismounted on the ridge, with the Bastan before us; on every side innumerable peaks, and, winding along the valley, the road which leads to Bareges.

Besides those already named, the most conspicuous heights are the Pic de l'Epee, the Pic de Bergons, and, at the further extremity of the valley, the Monne, which overhangs Cauteretz, and is yet visible from this point.

The Valley of the Bastan is singularly desolate, presenting nothing to the eye but the rugged flanks of mountains, scored, as it would seem, by the rush of torrents, and massive rocks, whose _debris_ lie scattered below, often obstructing the course of the Gave, which finds its source in the melted snows of the Neouvielle.