V.-—AMID THE SIERRAS. 
CHAPTER -L 
A DAY IN THE LOWER SIERRA. 
A distant view in 1884—A registered vow—Repeated attempts to carry it out 
—A spring day’s ride—Grass lands and cultivation—A watercourse and 
its occupants—An extensive view—The cistus scrub—Rock sepulchres— 
Their unknown origin—Reach the cliff—A Vulture’s colony—A careful 
reconnaissance—Formation of cliff—A practical lesson in geology—Explore 
a cavern—A subterranean route—Among the Vultures’ nests— Photographing 
young birds—Behaviour of their parents—Magnificent scenery—An_ ideal 
residence. 
hitherto been ignorant, amid 
NE autumn day, so far back as the 
year 1884, whilst crossing the Bay 
of Trafalgar on my way to Egypt 
and the Soudan, | was examining 
the mountainous country north 
of Tarifa with a telescope. I had 
already a tolerably good acquaint- 
ance with the topography of this 
district having made various ex- 
peditions into it, both for shooting 
and in quest of birds’ nests during 
the preceding ten years. On this 
occasion however I detected a 
cliff of whose existence I had 
the broken and rocky slopes of 
