A detailed travel-topographical study of the mountain chain combines geological and physical description with regional history, local customs, and portraits of towns and valleys. It traces the triple ridge, glacial cirques and lakes, contrasts between eastern and western and northern and southern slopes, and the effects of deforestation and human economy. Ethnographic notes discuss Basque and Catalan populations, linguistic survivals and antiquities such as dolmens and cave habitations. Successive chapters survey principal towns, passes, sanctuaries and resort places, interweaving historical anecdotes, architectural and naturalistic observations, and photographic illustrations to orient the reader to landscape and local life.