Vitoria
20th April 1850
My dear Henry
I was very glad indeed to get you letter at Bayonne at last, & to reward you I will write one fm Spain wh I think will please you pour la rareté du fait <1> – I think my last was to A. <2> fm Bordeaux – we left it the 10th & slept at Mt de Marsare wh is a pleasant place – & the country much less dull than N. of Bordeaux – very sandy & endless pine forest that day & the next but I saw no [échagaer?]. We were obliged to stop at a little place called Tortas to have our wheel taken off & repaired & I had a long talk with an old gentleman who offered me a chair – we discussed on various things & amongst others on politics – & he gave his opinion of the Republic in no measured terms – & appeared very zealous for Henri 5. This delay made us late in getting to Bayonne, & driving in, in the dark the post boy was thrown off & the horses passed on by themselves & were only stopped by coming in contact with the an Abreuvoir in the middle of the Place wh made one of them fall – We jumped out quickly & were much relieved to find there was no harm but smashing the pole of the carriage – for the poor post boy was found to be only hurt in the leg but nothing serious. Next morning I went to see the place & thought we had a wonderful escape, as we were very near the river & the bank steep without a parapet – & a plunge in the Adour tho’ it might have sounded romantic wd have been anything but agreeable. I liked Bayonne – it is clean & cheerful looking & there is a view of the Pyrenees & a Southern look about it – We took a voituries <3> there & left our own carriage & valuables – Monday we set out & entered Spain by the Bidassoa – lunched at Irun on puchera or olla <4> & slept at S. Sebastian – very striking situation. The town now having been destroyed in the wars, lying at the foot of the mountains where is the citadel. There is a charming walk up on the heights, where are several graves of the B. Legion in sight of the blue sea. Tuesday we went to Tolosa – Wednesday to Azpertia, in a very pretty valley where is the house of Loyote you mentioned – This is out of the high road – we returned to it at Bagara famous for the convention in /39 – Yesterday we came here over a still higher mountain pass than we had been before – All the way it is very pretty scenery – but about here it grows rather flat & tame – tomorrow we proceed thro’ Pamplona towards France – & mean to go straight fm Bayonne to Paris where we hope to find Caroline <5> established. Will you really come there? it wd be so nice & we wd make botanizing excursions
Please direct there till further notice. Love to all – I am so glad A. is better at last
Yr aff sister
Horatia
Notes:
1. For the novelty.
2. Amélina Petit De Billier, ‘Mamie’, ‘Amandier’ (1798–1876), governess and later close friend of the Talbot family [See Amélina's journal].
3. Carriage.
4. A type of meat stew.
5. Caroline Augusta Edgcumbe, née Feilding, Lady Mt Edgcumbe (1808–1881); WHFT’s half-sister.