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Pyrenees (Extensive mountain range)

an extensive mountain range in the S. of Europe, dividing France from Spain, and extending almost in a straight line from St. Sebastian, on the Bay of Biscay, to Cape Creux, on the Mediterranean. Length 270 miles, with a breadth from 50 to 100 miles. The principal summits are Mount Perdu, which has an elevation of 10,994 feet; the Vignemale, 10,820 feet; and the Peak of Nethou, 11,168 feet.

There are many passes; the total number, including paths for pedestrians, exceeds 50; but the carriage-roads hardly exceed five; and of these, the most frequented are from Jo Jonquera to Perpignan on the E., and from St. Sebastian to St.

Jean de Luz on the W., and from Pampeluna to St. Jean Pied de Port. The passes in the interior are over very high ground; Pineda is 8,248 feet above the sea; Gavarnie, 7,654; Lavareze, 7,350; and Tourmalet, 7,143. The principal rivers rising in the Pyrenees are the Adour, Garonne, and Aude, flowing N., and the Llobregat, and numerous affluents of the Ebro, flowing toward the S.