MISS BUNBLIRY ' S RIDES IN THE PYRENEES.

THIS book is more singular for its story, perhaps, than for itself. Miss MJNEURY, in company with some friends, left London for Paris ; and on arriving there, determined to visit some other friends, who had thought of going to Pau and invited her to join them there. As no lady travels without a protector in France, her acquaintance procured her the companionship of a gentleman, elderly and rheu- matic, who was going to the South to try and recover the use of his limbs ; and he, with the gallantry of the old regime, undertook to squire Miss &MERRY to her destination. Arriving there by way of the Loire to Nantes, the sea to Bourdeaux, and the Landes to Pau, and by means of diligence and steamers, the fair traveller found:her inviter, like a shy debtor, "non est inventus"; but from some Information' she conceived the family was at one of the water- ing-places in the Pyrenees. The physician at Pau luckily advised M. M—, Miss &MERRY'S companion, to try the waters at Cau- teretz, whither she thought her friends had gone' and thither she went in pursuit. The lady did not meet her friends, nor the gentle- man relief; and on they went to St. Sauveur, and Bareges. Here her protector remained, swathed in linen, and in a fair way of being victimized by the professional persons of the place ; whilst Miss &JEMMY went on to Bagneres de Bigorre in search of her friends ; who seemed to allure from afar, but as she followed fled. At Bigorre, whilst desponding on her strange situation in a strange place, she suddenly encountered an old Spanish acquaintance, who was going to cross the mountains into Spain on some mysterious expedition, passing by the Bagneres de Luchon, her last hope, in his way. As unsuccessful as ever at Luchon, Miss SUNBURY resolved to accom- pany Don JosE in his trip ; which becomes a blank after crossing the Pyrenees, for an uncertain time and space ; the tour disappear- ing at St. Beat, and reappearing in the Val d'Argelez, whence the Don determined to carry the lady safe to her friends at Pau. Arriving at that town a second time, Miss BUNBURY found that her rides in the Pyrenees were not likely to have succeeded, for her inviters had never left England.

The presence of an object, like the sight of the game, gives a species of interest to Miss BUNEURY'S tour ; and the singu- larity of the circumstances under which it was performed often excites attention. She has also some pleasant qualities for a tourist : she tells an incident or an anecdote of her journey well, and sketches a landscape with effect, when the forms are striking and distinct. But she has marred her book by overdoing. The now stale artifice of historical or antiquarian allusion is introduced at almost every place, not in a mere description of existing remains but in conjuring up stories about the past; and although this is done briefly, and in a manner that bespeaks familiarity with the topics, it has become too trite a trick to excite attention. The book also is too feminine. There is too much of mere sentiment and reverie, day-dreams and night-dreams—" words, words, words." This is the more to be regretted, because Miss &MERRY is a pleasant writer, and can, when dealing with substantials, impart a sense of novelty to old things : but we fear the lightness of the work will outweigh its solidity, and that Rides in the Pyrenees would have succeeded better in one volume instead of two. The half, in literature, is very often more valuable than the whole.

To prevent misconception from the title, it should be observed that Miss &MERRY was not always in motion pursuing her phan- tom-friends. She remained for some little time at several of the Pyrenean watering-places, and saw the sights of the vicinity under the care of the guides. On one of these occasions, she beheld the following singular effect of clouds among the Pyrenees.

"It was a strange scene I beheld that day, such as could only be seen among those mighty works of nature, the mountains. The clouds actually filled up the hollows and crevices, giving to the scene, though only for an instant, the aspect of a sea or lake, and that instant ending : there were the white glaciers visible, and the dark mountains. Tantalising was their constant movement, leading us to expect momentarily that they would move away; yet their vary- ing forms, as they wreathed and draped the dark bulwarks around us with their shadowy shrouds, produced effects which I would not have exchanged, I think, for an unclouded view : but this may be only a new edition of the fable of the sour grapes, for no unclouded view was to be mine.

" Sometimes the clouds left such a singular opening or vista in their own formation, as just sufficed to show the white glaciers lying like a nest beyond

it ; sometimes they stooped down into the valley, and the glorious peaks towered up bare and bold, canopied by the bright blue sky ; and then that pure, lovely sky, and its strong gleams of sunshine, were suddenly enveloped in one thick darkness, so that I could scarcely see my companion on the path before me; and the next instant all again was light.

" I was disposed to give up the ascent, but Jacques seemed to think the fog would disperse. As we wound along, I was going down into a great depth which seemed a fathomless mass of fog, through which I perceived something white, which I supposed lay near the bottom. While I looked, the cloud war in motion ; it heaved and rolled like billows of vapour, and spreading upwards its gigantic form, rose like a dark brooding spirit, slowly and lingeringly, hang- ing down its long crooked limbs, and labouring, as it were, to leave its lazy bed but I only turned away my eyes, and lo! when I looked back again, there were the blue waters of the Lac d'Oncet, lying clear, and dark, and beautiful, in that bed ; and round its margin lay the icy zone, Whose whiteness I had dimly seen through the cloud—a girdle of snow."

SPEAKING ENGLISH.

Strange it is, that even at this present day, when people of all countries are. thought to form a universal family, the French and English languages remain to some as completely "dead "as any language can be. The story I am going to relate seems to belong to the year 1815 rather than to 1843. One day the young emplo3e who had received use in charge on my first ar- rival at Bagneres, came in looking more thoughtful than usual, and broke silence by asking me to tell him the meaning of the words "spee•ak Eng- leesh." When I bad translated the difficult sentence, I naturally wanted to know how he had picked up the words he called so curiously ; and he told 1318 that two ladies had come to his office, and one, walking a little foremost, came up to him and said, " Spee-ak Engleesh." The employe bowed in silence ; whereupon the other came forward, and putting her face as near his as conve- nient, called out in a louder tone, " Spee-ak Engleesb." The emplo3d bowed again. But, after repeating the words in a still louder voice, one of them drew out the card of an hotel some hundred miles distant, touched her clothes, traced on the counter something like the shape of a port- manteau, then pointing to him, and then to the card, and made a motion as if writing: by all which symbols he understood, her luggage had been left behind, and she wanted him to write for it.

Be was about to explain hieroglyphically his readiness to do so; when, after a moment's discourse with each other, the ladies retired, making signs that they would return again. Soon after he gave me this account, the good employe came back with s much lightened countenance, and told me be had found out a mode of relieving my "compatriots" from their trouble. He had got the address of a "pro- fessor," who mould settle the whole matter; and, with no little exultation, he drew out of his waistcoat-pocket the card he was going to hand these poor ladies-

" Monsieur l'Abbe Rue — No. — Will spike the English."

THE PYRENEAN PONY.

The creature I mounted was scarcely larger than one of those fine mountain- goats, whose size and curved horns emulate those of the deer : it was coal- black, with such little legs as seemed incapable of supporting my weight, much less that of the great, heavy guide, from whom I took it. Its movements were so light, so bounding, that from the moment I left the other clumsy animal, I could feel nothing but a sense of exultation as it leaped up the rocky spiral ladder, as if rejoicing to show me the scene I was hastening to. I could not think 1 inflicted pain for my own gratification ; and I dare say enjoyed myself as much as any of those lady-tourists who, like "petted children," have beets carried by their fellow-mortals over such places in chaises ci porteurs. The dear little thing ! I should like to go to the Port de Venasque again, only for the pleasure of renewing my acquaintance with that black pony. During an ascent of two hours, it never stopped of its own accord to breathe but once; nor was I ever obliged to dismount. Francois sometimes. held its tail; but he was too fond of it to make use of it as a pulley to bring himself up the ascent, which was at times so steep as to render that tail and

the creature's head nearly vertical. • • We passed out of Arragon into Catalonia by the Port de Pommereau, ascending still from that of the Picade; and truly I never before believed that any horse's feet could pursue such a track—track, indeed, there was none, or traced only by the course of a mountain-torrent. We either descended stairs of rock, or made our way over broken slate and shingle.

It was curious to see the way in which my little pony acted in the former case. When these rocky steps were to be passed, some of them at least three quarters of a yard in height, the creature would stand still for a moment, with his head bowed, his intelligent eyes turning from side to side, and his long sharp ears brought forward, and quivering, I suppose from mental exertion, as, he reconnoitered the spot and decided on his plan of action. "Let him go!" the guide would call out : and then, drawing his fore-feet to. gether, and placing them with an air of deliberate resolution on the spot he bad selected for a resting-place, he would rest on the stretch for a second or two, until, collecting his powers, with one jerk he brought the hind-feet up to the fore ; and all I had to do was to bear in mind that adhesiveness was the most useful quality I could now display.

Miss BITNERRY'S companion, old Don Jog, was a Catholic, rather stanch, but not bigoted. The lady persuaded him to go one Sunday to the Protestant church at the village of Ow, where the remains of a Huguenot congregation still existed, with a view of impressing him ; which she certainly contrived to do.

"As we entered the poor-looking village, I delightedly called his attention to the fact that most of the houses were closed : but at the same time the sight impelled me to quicken my pace, until the extreme heat of the morning and the rapid walk were very near changing anxiety into ill-humour.

"As we came on, we heard that loud harsh noise which is often to be heard. at a considerable distance from English chapels at the time of singing ; and this sound easily guided us to a tolerably large house, which we concluded was the Temple. I never shall forget the anxious feelings with which I approached. it ; dreading lest the service should be nearly over, and the opportunity lost of showing my friend the nature of Protestant worship, and letting him hear from the pulpit the pure and simple truths of the gospel, on which that faith. is founded.

"We entered a large, lofty room, the floor quite filled by chairs, occupied by men, women, and children; the tali former dividid from each other. I got a seat near to the door, and Senhor Jose one nearer to the minister at the other side.

"After the first excitement of my entree was over, I endeavoured to find out hi what Fart of the service the minister was engaged; at least, whether it was

prayer, reading, or preaching. The singing was ended, but what was going on I could not at first discover ; not that I was unaccustomed to French service, or to Presbyterian service, but because the buzz of conversation around me rather confused the words of the minister in my ear.

" The women, neatly dressed, and mostly in black, sat on their chairs, with their feet generally on the rails of that before them, their arms on their knees, their persons inclined forward, and their fingers and eyes examining each other's dress, commenting upon it, nearly aloud, talking to their children, or warning their neighbour to be more careful lest her robe should touch the floor. "The men were not. of course, so talkative; but the listless vacuity of their rolling eyes showed, that wherever else their thoughts and interests lay, they were little concerned with what the minister was saying. Sometimes a little commotion would take place in this quarter ; and the minister, scarcely pausing, would introduce an impatient and authoritative demand for order and tran- quillity. "I stole one trembling glance at my Catholic companion; he had got his hand partly shading his face, and looked very grave. "As soon as the singing came on, every one started to their feet, took up hymn-books, the only books I believe they had, and commenced roaring as loud as they could. When the time for preaching came, the clergyman turned quickly round, took up a large-sized bound volume, and walking rapidly into the pulpit, opened it, and read out of a printed volume of sermons, an address drawn from the tenth chapter of St. John's Gospel; scarcely a word of which was suitable to so careless, irreverend, I fear Godless a set of people."