A DIFFICULT CLIMB 57 



necessary, therefore, to get out of the valley in 

 which we were trapped as quickly as possible. 

 To climb the slide we came down was an impos- 

 sibility, my fall earlier in the afternoon having 

 completely shut that way off from us. To descend 

 from where we were was also an impossibility, 

 owing to the precipice. The only way open to us was 

 to force our way through the tree-ferns and gain 

 the ridge and climb up that to the gannets' nests. 



We all three felt that we had had enough 

 climbing. Water there was none ; all our drink 

 had been consumed earlier in the afternoon. 

 However, we had to get out somehow, and the 

 sooner the better ; so we started off, and at length 

 reached the ridge up which we slowly made our 

 way. Arrived at the top we started for the 

 " Cascade " valley, and followed the same track 

 as that we had ascended some hours previously. 



Going down this track was much more un- 

 pleasant than coming up. On our right was a 

 precipice, while the outlook on our left was 

 scarcely less formidable, for in that direction the 

 ground fell away almost sheer for at least three 

 hundred feet. Our path was a narrow ridge, 

 just wide enough to give a foothold, and that a 

 most insecure one. At length, however, we reached 

 the " Crown " rock, and skirting it again we came 

 in sight of the beginning of the " Cascade," the 

 clear water of which was so tempting that the 

 seaman and I resolved to climb down to it. Never 



