To Slip or not to Slip? 317 
I was extremely anxious to descend to this nest. To reach it 
with a rope was a very simple affair, a mere matter of being lowered 
some 20 ft. but I had no rope with me and further was all alone 
and, what was even more deterring, my whereabouts at the time 
were known to nobody. On the other hand, to postpone the 
descent and to return another day with ropes was impossible as 
I was leaving the district early the following morning. The climb 
was just awkward enough to make one want a companion, for 
owing to certain experiences I have the greatest dislike to the 
idea of running the risks of being disabled on some remote cliff. 
Many years previously when endeavouring to work along the face 
of a crag to reach a nest of the Blue Rock Thrush I had lost my 
footing and fallen, only a few feet it is true, certainly not more 
than ten, when I Juckily brought up on a ledge, but the bruising 
and shaking I then got was so severe as to prevent me from 
attempting to move from that ledge for over an hour and the 
memory of such an untoward experience endures for all time. 
Further I had ever before me when working alone amid cliffs the 
already mentioned tale of the Bluejacket who attempted to go 
round the back of the Rock alone. It was decidedly a case 
for clear thinking, so | sat down and had it out with myself. 1 
reflected how it was a reasonable certainty that this nest contained 
egos and that for twenty years I had wanted some for my collection 
and here I was now within 20 ft, of them. As regards the risks 
run and the disadvantages of having no friend at hand, after a 
further reconnaissance over the edge of the cliff, always by the 
way a most deterring operation when a climber is of two minds, 
I came to the deliberate conclusion that: (1) the chances were 
even that I would xo¢ slip; (2) that if I ad slip, the chances were 
a thousand to one that a companion would be of no use to me, nor 
I of any further use toa companion. So I took off my boots and 
all superfluous clothing and feeling cautiously for some hand-hold 
