The Uses of a Life-line 73 
to injuries, I have of late years been compelled to make use of 
one, when ascending steep slopes. The moment however a bit of 
genuine climbing has to be done, the alpenstock becomes a constant 
source of trouble and danger and in most instances has to be dis- 
carded at any rate for a time, until the actual climbing, as apart 
from scrambling up steep hillsides, is over. The fact is that in 
cliff climbing a man must depend upon his own nerve, eye and 
skill to carry him through. If these fail him or are likely to fail 
him, he has no business to be one of the party and I for one 
would respectfully decline to be roped to such a man under any 
conceivable conditions. 
It must be remembered that what may be useful and even 
necessary for men crossing snowfields or glaciers may be entirely 
unsuited to the class of mountaineering required in birdsnesting. 
For as a rule, where the snow-line begins the bird-life, so far as 
nests are concerned, ends. I have only on three occasions when in 
quest of nests had to touch the snow-line and although at other 
times the rocks may have been slippery with ice and the ground 
whitened with snow, the conditions were totally distinct from those 
which have hourly to be faced by the regular Alpine climber. 
Ropes improperly used are a fertile source of danger and my 
own experience is that very few men, save indeed some naval 
officers, know enough to use them in all circumstances with 
advantage and safety. Some of the incidents which I shall describe 
later will I think give point to what I here say. 
First as to the use of a rope as a life-line, to ensure that a 
man who may slip at some awkward point may be saved from 
a dangerous or possibly fatal fall. When rounding some precipitous 
bluff or traversing some dangerous bit on the face of a crag 
on a steep hillside, it is sometimes most desirable to lead a rope 
across the same, whereby the less expert climbers may be provided 
with a good hand-hold in the event of a slip. In such a case both 
