86 Cliff Climbing 
explore the cliff. Having finished this he returns to the point 
whence he started, bends on the rope again, and holding firmly 
on to the cliff, signals “Haul up.” It is always best, as soon as 
the slack has been taken in, to signal ‘ Hold hard” before making 
the final ascent. This gives time to the party above to get a fair 
strain on the rope and enables the man below to make a comfort- 
able exit from his ledge. Disregard for this small rule has resulted 
in my being jerked off swinging in mid-air by over-anxious friends 
above, an event as alarming for them as it was unpleasant for me. 
In ascending, a skilful climber will soon pick up the rhythm 
of the haulers and whenever the cliff permits, will, by catching 
hold of it with his hands, “ lighten up” his weight. It is marvel- 
lous how even a couple of fingers on a ledge at the right 
moment will ease the efforts of those above in hauling up. 
During an ascent of this description a climber should xever 
‘get ahead of his rope”; in other words, he should always keep 
a strain on it. A rope attached to a man which is allowed to 
sag down may very easily catch on some projecting rock just 
below him and when the men above give the next pull he may 
find himself being violently hauled downwards, a most unpleasant 
predicament. 
I cannot too emphatically caution all would-be climbers as to 
the possible dangers of meddling with the ropes unless they are 
skilful at knots. Even the most practised and expert hands may 
get into trouble by this means, for long familiarity with danger 
makes all men at times careless. I will cite but one example. 
In 1894 I descended the. big cliff known as the Laja del Ciscar. 
I had with me 180 ft. of new Alpine 13 in. rope and was lowered 
by two Spaniards. It was by no means a sheer descent, save 
now and again for 20 ft. or so, where a vertical fissure ran 
down to a ledge which in turn sloped outwards until it merged 
in the general surface of the cliff. When near the end of the 
