Pyrēnæi

, a mountain, or a long ridge of high mountains, which separate Gaul from Spain, and extend from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean sea. They receive their name from Pyrene the daughter of Bebrycius [ See: Pyrene ], or from the fire ( πυρ ) which once raged there for several days. This fire was originally kindled by shepherds, and so intense was the heat which it occasioned, that all the silver mines of the mountains were melted, and ran down in large rivulets. This account is deemed fabulous by Strabo and others. Diodorus , bk. 5 .— Strabo , bk. 3 .— Mela , bk. 2 , ch. 6 .— Silius Italic us , bk. 3 , li. 415 .— Livy , bk. 21 , ch. 60 .— Pliny , bk. 4 , ch. 34 .