The book in its original form was written in the course of 1908-09, and contained a number of particular details on prices, etc., which the war has completely changed. These I have had to revise only approximately, for the value of the franc still fluctuates violently. But the present conditions of currency in Europe are not permanent. In other matters the book is as applicable to the present condition of the Pyrenees as it was to that thirteen or fourteen years ago. The road system is the same, and though one or two of the inns may have changed hands, the account of these I give holds in the main. There have been no new maps issued, either, since the date on which the book was written. I have not added anything on the present system of passports, because that also presumably will be out of date in a short time; but I may mention that at the moment of writing these lines (September, 1922), it is advisable to have one’s passport viséd to Spain before visiting the mountains. Even if the reader has no intention of crossing the frontier he may be compelled to do so under stress of weather, or he may easily do so by error in the confusion of the higher valleys, and in the first Spanish town he comes to his passport is sure to be demanded.
The train service differs little now from what it was before the war. The night and day services and the average number of hours required for approaching the mountains from Paris or London, are again much what they were fourteen years ago.
PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION
I write this Preface to the Fourth Edition after five years.
My last note upon this book was written, as the reader will see, for the Third Edition, in September, 1922. These lines are written in November, 1927.
When I wrote my Preface to the Third Edition, Europe, its currencies, and the rest, were still under the heavy disturbances of the Great War. But things are now more settled, notably currencies. Also a few more years of peace have given both French and Spaniards the opportunity for building new roads, and for extending the railway system.
In the notes I am about to add here I ought to make it clear that I am writing principally by information rather than by direct personal experience, and anyone who finds that some point ought to be corrected or something added, and who will communicate with the publishers, or with myself care of the publishers, will be doing the future readers of this book a great service. I am sure to be making some mistakes, and the less there are in any future edition the better.
I humbly beg the reader to remember that the book was written in the old days of peace, “before ever the sons of Achaia came to the land.” It was also written when I was a young man and could go over any number of miles on foot in any weather and over pretty well anything—even the worst steeps of the Canal Roya, though I have no claim to climbing. To-day I can do none of these things, and have to go by hearsay. I propose to divide what I have to say into (1) general remarks, (2) additions to the road system, (3) the (comparatively slight) changes in the railroad system (including the change in the value of money and present prices of tickets), (4) changes in inns (here I shall have to be very tentative, for I have to go mainly by reports), and (5) maps.