New-York tribune., 1873-12-09

and to please; they take of their cap you
speak 60 them and smile compiaisanty; their manners
truly; False and courteous Besrnas You recall 70
mind the earessng manners and the perfect skin OF their
Henry w.; he knew how TO play on everybody aud
offend nobody. In this respect, in many Others, he
true B6arnais. With the aid Of necessity have
seen them trump up geological disquisitions. In the
middle of July there sort Of earthquake; report
was spread that an old wall had fallen down. in truth
the windows had shaken rs II great wagon were pass
ing by Immediately half Of the bdthers quilted Their
lodgings hundred and fifty persons fed from Canter
ran to the stable fasteu their carriages,
and TO hg1t themselves carried away the
hotel lantern The peasants shook their heads compass
siOnatey and said to "You Sir, they are going
from the ryngpsn into the nre; if there il an earth
quake. the plain will open, and they viii fal into the
creNioes whereas here the mountain is soid and would
Keep them safe as house"
place IN my history, shall furnish an example OF the
polite caution aud the scTupllons reserve IN wen
shall be compromised. The master had drawn the
neghboring church, aud wanted toJudge OF his work
do Won recognize that, Jeanette" b..
"Ah! monsieur. did You DO thatF
what have copied herel" .
'Ah monsieur, II is very beautiful"
! But STILL tell me what II is there
She takes the paper turns 1t over ana over aga LOOKS
! at the artist with dazed air aud says nothing.
| Is IL mill or enurchF
lis il the church of Laruns -
"Ah IT'S very beautiful
| You could never get her beyond that
or BarGges, the famous watering-pace in the val
| ley of Luz, NJ. Tame did not receive n favorable
impression, and gives vent 10 his disappointment IN
| cynical terms. The commencement of the road is
charming The Gave, struck by the sun, ghtters
around tbe mountain, like necklace of diamonds
| The water leaps from every hight, and a crowd OF
| little mills are perched over the cascades. Their
slated roofs smile and CLEAN among the foliage
| Everything is gracious and lovely. The banks of
the Gave preserve theirfreshness under the burning
sum- the shadow of the elders and ashes trembles IN
| e,,o and th, fraa
smooth columns, only spreading forth in branches at
hight of forty feet The distant woods sleep in an
envelope of living moisture and the earth seems to
| inhale force and pleasure from its embrace. But
upon a nearer approach to Bareges the scene sud
denly changes
soon the mountains grow bald. rhe trees dlsappear;
notlng npon the slopes bat poor brushwOod BITeges
| is seen The landscape is bdeous. The flank OF the
mountain creyIced with WbitiSh slides, the narrow
and wasted plain disappears beneath sand;
poor herDage dry and weighed down, fails at every
step; the earth IS as il ripped open, ana the sough
through its yawning wound exposes the very entrts;
the beds yeowsh limestone are laid bare one walk,
lands and trains Of rounded pebblcs the Gave itci
half disappears under heaps OF grayish stones ana
with difficulty gets out of the desert 10 has made ls
brOEen-up soil is ugly II Is melancholy; the de1rs
dirty aud mean; they date iron yerrtay you Ioei
that the devastation begins anew with every year.
Ruins be beautiful must be either grand or
backened by time; here. the stones nave last beeh M
earthed they are sli soaking in the Inud; two miry
streanlets creep through the suilies The place reminds
The town of Bareges ugly as its avenue melan-
| houses.
long rows OF booths ana wooden nuts Whefe ndhuN1r
| chiefs and poor rOnmongely are sold. II Is pc-
| cause the avalanche accumulates every winter IN
| a mountain crevice the left and as II
| slides down carries of side OF the street
here the wind penetrates, and the little town is unin-
habiiable il Winter. The ground is enslTOuded under
or eight mOmaineers iet here, with provisions 10
watc over the houses and the furniture. II often hap
that these poor people cannot get as lar as Luz
| and remain imprisoned during several weeksi
The bathing establishment Is miserAble the eomari-
| a4rag liars n "A
sixteen cabinets, all duapdated- Invads are often
water which has just served for the bathing tubs that
for poor receives the water discharged from the
other two These pools, pisc,ncs. low and dark
sort Of sitting. underground prison. One must have
pretty good health in order 10 be cured in them.
The military hospital, banished 10 the north OF the
little town. Is melancholy, piastered building whose
windows ranged IN rows with military regularity.
The myaids, wrapped IN gray c.oah TOO iaIge ior
them. climb by one the naked slope, ana seat then
SELVES among s%a 's oo strrS before them with
| resigned air. An invahds days are
gayety when comrade passes they exchange lest:
even in hospital. at Bareges even, frenchlnan re-
| mains a FFenchmau.
| You meet poor old crutches, myalids climbing
the steep street Those vsages Redeemed by the inele
or eneeDled flesh, the dun Dyes already dead pain
fu 10 behold At their age, habtuated to misery they
trouble themselves about he past and no longer 10 care
for the future You need 10 think hat their torpid soul
| lives on like machine. They are the ruins OF man
| alongside those of the soil
The aspect OF the west still more somber An
horizon They are hung over the valley like an eternal
threat Those spines 80 rugged 80 manifold 80 angular
GIVE TO eye the sensation OF lnyincibe hardness
There from them cold wind that drives heavy
weed otreanlets which borcf the street and prattle
| mostly over the blue pebbles.
In his chapter on Plants and Animals VI. Taine
gives several racy descriptions of the natural history
of the country, from which will take single
| specimen
| The bear is serious beast a thorough mountaneer
hon in %
nd % it doice for il Is heavy fnr il an exceIIent
mantle against the snow. The mOunaineers think II
good that they borrow 1t from him often they
and ne thinks il 80 good that he defends it against them
to the of his ability de likes TO live alone. and the
gorges OF the nights are as solitary as he wishes The
hollow trees afford him ready made house; these
are for part beecbe and oaks he finds in them
al food shelter For the rest brave, prudent,
aud robust he is estimable ANIMAL his only faults
are he eats his little when he runs
them. and that he is poor dancer
in hunting him, they go into ambush and ire on him
he passes. Lately IN baftnc, superb female was
tracked. When the foremost hunters, VINO were novces
saw the glitter OF the niue netce eyes ana perceived he
black mass descending with great strides, beating
the underbrush, they forgot al OF sudden that
they had guns, and kept whist behind their oak A
hundred PAGES further on brave fellow fired. The
bear. which not hit came up o gallop. The man,
dropping his gun. slipped into pit Reaching the
to ne felt OF MS limbs and by some miracle found him
his head busy in examining the slope, and pressing her
foot upon the stones 10 see II they were firm. She
snlffed here and there looked the with
evident intention OF paying hun visit The pit was
WELL If she reached the bottom he must resign himself
to a ttesttete. While the man reflected this, and
thought OF the animals teeth the bear began 70 descend
with infinite precaution and address, managing her
precious person with great care hanging 10 the roots
slowly but without ever stumbling She was drawing
near, when the hunters came mp and shot her dead
The isard dwels above the bear upon the naked tops
in the region Of the glaciers He needs space for ms
leaps and gambois. He IS too lively and gay 10 shut
SELF like the heavy misaDthrOpe, in the gorges
ana forests No animal is more agile; he leaps
from rock 10 rock, clears precipices, and keeps
his place upon points where there is just for his
four feet You sometimes hear hollow bleating the
nights il ID a band OF isarts cropping the berbage
amid the their tawny dress and their little horns
stand the blue OF the heavens one OF them gives
the alarm and all disappear in moment.
You often hear for "a hafhour tinkng OF bells
behind the mountain these the herds Of goats
changing their pasture. Sometimes there than
thnnsand OF them. You lind Yourself stopped in |