September, 1S92.J 



AND OOLOGIST. 



^-^5 



cliff there was a rent or hole, which from 

 where we stood looked as if it had about 

 as much room inside it as an empty flour 

 barrel, In there, the guide said, the Vul- 

 tures had their n?st, and the only way to 

 reach it was to let me down from the top 

 at the end of a long rope. 



" It was a perilous descent, but making 

 a sort of chair at the end of a stout raw- 

 hide rope I swung myself over the clift' 

 and two men lowered me slowly while 

 the third lay on his face and peered over 

 into the abyss watching me. When I 

 got about twenty feet below the hole in 

 the clift' I signalled them to stop. The hole 

 I found was as big around at the entrance 

 as a barn door ; but the top of the cliff pro- 

 jected so that I hung fully twenty feet 

 away from the face of the rock. Nothing 

 daunted, I began to swing myself, slowly 

 at first, and with gradually increasing 

 force, till my body at last swung in against 

 the face of the cliff and finally into the 

 hole itself. Catching a projecting corner 

 of rock, I gained my feet, and was nearly 

 knocked off them again by the horrible 

 stench which greeted me. 



" The floor of the hole was strewed with 

 decayed flesh and fish and feathers and 

 bones, and in the middle of it all lay the 

 nest of long grass and as dirty as any pig- 

 sty and in it two young vultures and one 

 unhatched egg. The egg was a grateful 

 sight, but the youngsters were an unpleas- 

 ant surprise, for they at once threw them- 

 selves on their backs and began to scream 

 like mad. I secured the egg, but not with- 

 out getting a couple of bad scratches from 

 the sharp claws of the young birds, which 

 were about as big as hens. I was wrap- 

 ping the egg in my coat and the young 

 birds were filling the air with their clamor 

 when suddenly there was a whir of wings, 

 the entrance was darkened, and I got a 

 blow on the head that knocked me down 

 in the unspeakable filth and filled my eyes 

 with blood. 



The old birds were upon me. I recog- 

 nized that fact in an instant, and having 

 nothing to defend myself with, I expected 

 to be knocked down the cliff or at least 

 have my eyes pecked out. I was always 

 pretty ready of resources, and in this bad 

 plight the thought flashed through my 

 mind that these unusually timid birds 

 were only fierce because they thought I 

 wanted to harm their young. Qiiicklv un- 

 rolling the egg from my coat, I threw the 

 garment over the squalling brats, and 

 their sharp claws striking into the cloth 

 at once tangled them inextricably in it. 

 Guarding my eyes from the old birds with 

 one arm, I dragged the coat with the two 

 young ones attached to it to the mouth of 

 the hole, only a step or two, and hurled 

 them far out and down into the lake. 



"As I expected, the old Vultures fol- 

 lowed their young at once and their efforts 

 to lift them out of the water were so ludi- 

 crous that I laughed aloud. My laugh 

 was quickly shut off, however, for in the 

 next moment, as I thrust the egg into my 

 bosom and gave the rope a tug as a signal 

 to my men to pull me up, the rawhide 

 came down from the top of the cliff with 

 a run. Great Scott! How was I to get 

 back .'' What had those stupid fools at the 

 top done ! I did not know that they had 

 watched me disappear into the hole, had 

 seen the old Vultures follow me, and had 

 then seen what they thought must be me, 

 as they distinctly recognized my coat, 

 come flying out again and fall into the 

 lake, pursued by the two Vultures, whom 

 they could see pecking at me in the 

 waves. 



" Thev let go the rope and hurried away 

 around and down to the lake's edge to res- 

 cue my mangled body from being entirely 

 eaten up by the birds. After some tedious 

 hours of climbing they found out their 

 mistake and proceeded to climb back 

 again. By this time it was growing dark, 

 ' and as I sat hour after hour in that foul 



