Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/658

* PYBAMTTS. 574 PYRENEES. arranged to meet at the tomb of Xinus, where Tliisbe, wlio was first at the trysting-spot, was startled by a lioness. She tied, leaving her veil behind, which the fierce animal tore and covered with blood. Soon after Pyramus appeared, and, seeing the bloody veil, believed his mistress had been murdered, whereupon he killed himself. Thisbe now returned, anil, beholding her lover ly- ing dead on the ground, put an end to her own life. PYRARGYBITE (from Gk. irC,), pijr, fire + ipyvpos, argi/ros, silver). A silver-antimony sulphide that crystallizes in the hexagonal sys- tem, has a metallic lustre, and is dark red or black in color. It occurs with arsenic, lead, and silver ores in the Harz, Saxony, Bohemia, Hun- gary, Spain, and Cornwall, England ; also in Mexico and South America. In the United States it is found with silver ores in Colorado, New Jlexico, Arizona. Utah, and Nevada, and when found in quantity is a valuable silver ore. PYRENEES, pir'e-nez. A high mountain chain of Kurojje extending from the southeast corner of the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean. The C'antabrian Mountains of the north coast of Spain are a continuation of the Pyrenees, so that the entire mountain system extends from Cape Creus in the Mediterranean to Cape Toriiiana on the northwest coast of Spain, a dis- tance of G30 miles; but the name Pyrenees is ap- plied only to that part of the .system which forms the bomidary between France and Spain, and which lias an east and west extension of about 280 miles. The mountains, with an area of over 20,000 square miles, form the water parting be- tween the rivers of France and Spain, and are an effective barrier l^etween the two countries. Un- like the Alps, which have a number of passes prac- ticable for wagon roads, the Pyrenees are a true sierra whose saw-like ridges are notched only a lit- tle below the level of the peaks, so that the few passes are not practicable for wagons. The high- ways that start as roads merge into mule paths and are valueless for commerce. The two rail- roads between France and Spain cross the low coastal strips at the extremities of the moun- tains, and are thus greatly deflected from direct routes, so that most of the commerce between the two countries is carried by sea. Thus while the Alps oppose no great obstacle to commerce, the Pyrenees are a barrier to it. The Pyrenees were upheaved above the sea during the latter part of the Eocene epoch, when a large part of Europe was buried under the ocean. Granite forms the kernel of the mountain system, and is overlaid by masses of cluilk and sandstone. The culmination of the mountains is only 11,108 feet above sea level: and, owing to the far extending southern slope which falls gently to the plain of Spain, the mean height of the mountain mass is only about 3500 feet. Contrary to earlier opinion, the mountains do not form a continuous chain or two chains, as has often been asserted, between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The later investigations of the French Alpine Club modify this view. The surveys, especially on the Spanish side, seem to show that no continuous line forms the culminat- ing portion of the Pyrenees, but that this back- bone of the mountains is a series of broken chains which do not coincide with the water parting between France and Spain, but cross this divide obliquely. Some of these broken chains extend from northwest to southeast, and others intei'sect them from southwest to north- east, so that by alternately digressing from one of these directions to the other the irregular crest of the Pyrenees acquires its general direction, which from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean is 9° south of due east. The northern slopes of the Pyrenees are shorter and much steeper than those on the southern or Spanish side. Few mountain chains exhibit a more regular succession of increasing altitudes than the Pyrenees summits from the Atlantic to and through the Central or High Pyrenees. In the west near the ocean the summits are only 2000 to 3000 feet high. Farther east the peaks become more and more alpine till the Pic du Midi d'Ossau (9465 feet) is seen rising above all its western neighbors. The central regions of the niountains, extending about 150 miles, are next reached, and the Pic d'Enfer (10,109), Balaitous (10,318), Vignemale (10,820). Mont Perdu (10,994), Pic des Posets (11,047), and Maladetta, or the Pic d'Anethou (11,108), rapidly succeed one another, all in the region of the High Pyrenees. The moiuitains to the east of the culminating summits are abruptly reduced in elevation, and only two, Montcalm and Pic d'Estats, approach the height of the Central or. High Pyrenees. The Eastern Pjrenees in their three high summits (Pic Carlitte, Puigmal, and Canigou) and the High Pyrenees rise into the region of permanent snow. The snow line is nearly 1000 feet higher than in the Alps, while the general level of the mountains is considerably lower. Most of the highest summits are on the boundary crest, but the culminating point of the Maladetta is in Spain. The extent of the snow fields and glaciers is therefore insig. nificaut as compared with that of the Alps. The entire area of glaciers is estimated at 13 square miles, the largest glaciers being on the Jlaladetta ( 1700 acres) and on the Mont Perdu group ( 1472 acres). Under these circumstances the mountain climber gives nuich less attention to weather and snow conditions than in Switzerland. While the Pj'renees have great beauty and grandeur, they have not vied with the Alps as a field for climb- ers. This is partly explained by the fact that most tourists prefer mountains which may be easily reached from comfortable hotels with highly skilled and painstaking mountain guides. One of their most attractive spots, easily reached from several French resorts, is the Cirque de Ciavarnie. Along the northern slope of the Pyre- nees are a number of famous watering-places, in- cluding Bagn&res-de-Bigorre and Bagn6res-de- Luchon. The little Republic of Andorra (q.v.) lies among the Eastern Pyrenees on the southern slope. The two most famous passes of the Pyre- nean range are the Col de Portus or Perthus (traver.sed by Hannibal), in the east, and the pass of Roneesvalles, in the west. BlBLioGR.piiy. Cenac-Moncaut. Hiatoife (tes Pyrenees (5 vols., Paris, 1853-55) ; Perret, Les Pyrenees fran^aises (Paris, 1881-84) ; Bois and Durier, Les Hautes-Pyrences (Orleans. 1884) ; Baring-Gould, In Trouhadovr Land (New York, 1897) ; Hugo, The Alps onrl Pyrenees (London, 1898) ; Curzon, "Une bibliographic de I'alpinisnie pvreneen," in liihliofjraphie Moderne. vol. iv. (Paris. 1900). PYRENEES, pe'rS'na', Basses. A south- western department of France. See Basses-Py- een£es.