60 Tree Climbing 
bole and give way suddenly. A good rule is never to trust a 
branch in a fir unless some green spines are to be seen growing on 
some portion of it. Where nests are placed away from the main 
trunk, some care is necessary. In case of most deciduous trees, 
such as oak, elm or beech, the branches where nests are usually 
placed rarely slope more than 45 degrees or so. In working up 
such places a very secure hand-hold is necessary as it may easily 
happen that the climber slips round under the bough. If this 
occurs, it is generally best to continue the climb along the under- 
side until some branches are reached which make the process of 
righting oneself easy enough. In fir trees, on the other hand, a 
nest is often placed on a bough of which the slope is anything 
between 45 degrees and the horizontal. The former requires 
care and is best tackled by swarming along it; when a branch is 
horizontal, or nearly so, provided it is big enough, it may be better 
to sit astride and work out along it, as on a vaulting horse. Where 
a bough actually dips downwards, always turn round and face the 
tree and slip down it. 
The preceding are all taken from examples of climbs I have 
made. Quite the worst and most alarming of my climbs of this 
description was after a Raven’s nest. This was in a tall fir tree 
which was popularly supposed to be unclimbable, close to the 
Duke of Kent’s Farm near Gibraltar. 
One evening at our Mess the conversation turned as to whether 
it was possible to get at this nest and in the course of it, it tran- 
spired that two subalterns had on that very day attempted it and 
had failed. One of them was an exceptionally powerful man. 
Both were given to scientific observation and they measured the 
height of the tree by means of its shadow as being 72 ft. Asa 
proof of the impracticable nature of this particular tree they 
described how two Spanish herds who had joined them had alike 
been defeated in the attempt to scale it. Later on that same 
