and go by the tram. The platform on which the baths of La Raillère are constituted command a view of the deep valley of Lutour, down which descends a stream issuing from a chain of little lakes lying in the lap of the Pic de Mallerouge, 9740 feet, the lowest of which, the Lac d'Estom, discharges its waters by a beautiful cascade, and they further leap down into the basin of Cauterets at its extremity in a white streak. Above the Lac d'Estom in a wild chaotic cirque are the tarns that feed it; one of these retains its coat of ice almost all the year through.
The Lutour joins the Gave de Jerret above La Raillère, and it is up this latter that the way leads to the Pont d'Espagne and the Lac de Gaube, about which more presently. Another Gave, that of Cambasque, unites with the Gave of Pierrefite by the station of the electric tram at Cauterets, and below the town itself.
The Thermes des Œufs, so designated from the smell of rotten eggs, sulphuretted hydrogen, emitted by the waters, is one of the most luxuriously furnished establishments of the kind in Europe. Six springs contribute their water to the baths. Above these is the casino.
"Cauterets," said Taine, "is a bourg at the bottom of a valley, dismal enough, paved, and furnished with an octroi. Innkeepers, guides, all that ravenous population surround us. We are annexed by touts, children, donkey-drivers, by the first garçons who can hitch on to us. We are handed cards, we receive rcecommendations to this hotel for its situation, to that for its cuisine. We are attended, cap in hand, by the crowd, elbowing one another out of the way, to the end of the village. 'This is my traveller,' shouts one, 'come near him and I will horsewhip you.' Every hotel has its herd of touts. Here all are hunters. In winter they hunt the chamois, in summer the tourist."
