62 Tree Climbing 
the more slippery do the branches become, at any rate they always 
feel so. Possibly this may be due to these upper branches being 
more exposed to the heat of the sun’s rays than are the lower ones. 
Now to the climb. I managed to tackle the first 10 ft. or so by 
mounting on Fergusson’s broad shoulders, after which the trunk 
became more climbable. It was a stiff and slippery swarm, but 
all went well until I reached the lower bend of the §. At this 
point, as I was cautiously hauling myself over the hump and round 
the “corkscrew” portion, the treacherous bark slid in my grasp and 
so did I, swinging round under the bough. I held on like grim 
death, with fingers interlaced and legs twisted around it. It was 
horribly uncomfortable thus hanging back downwards with 50 ft. 
clear to the ground below and for a moment I was puzzled what 
to do next short of sliding back ignominiously. It was clearly 
impossible to regain the upper side of the slippery trunk so I made 
the best of a bad job and swarmed up along the lower side and was 
not a little relieved when I found myself at a vertical portion once 
again where I could regain my seat, so to speak, on the slanting 
part immediately below it. A few feet more and I gained the 
friendly spreading boughs near the nest. The latter contained 
five young Ravens. I am not ashamed to say that I did not 
embark on the return journey till I felt I had thoroughly recovered 
from my misadventure As so often happens, the return proved to 
be comparatively easy. It is superfluous to go into details of how 
at dinner that evening, our brother officers were cautiously led on 
to understand that we had found the tree to be too much for us 
and how, at the psychological moment, they were permitted by my 
aggravating comrade to become aware of the truth. But after all 
such victories are too dearly purchased and it took me some time 
before I felt anxious to tackle awkward fir trees. Of one thing I am 
well assured, namely that the Ravens in selecting this particular 
tree were perfectly aware of the difficulties it presented to the 
