418 The Bearded Vulture 
soon we saw first one and then the other of the Bearded Vultures 
sailing over the cliffs and shortly marked one of them enter a 
cavern about 250 feet above our position. With the aid of a glass 
it was easy to make out the huge nest and, as we watched the 
old bird moving about in it, we felt sure of our prey. 
I, however, determined not to be hurried by my companions and 
having gained a suitable point immediately below the nest, I made 
a very careful reconnaissance of the place and with the following 
results. The hill before us consisted of a series of cliffs divided 
by steeply sloping terraces.’ I may mention that the heights here 
given were ascertained subsequently by aneroid and the known 
length of the ropes employed, and, as is almost invariably the 
case, were found to be greatly in excess of our first estimate. It 
is one of those curious facts in dealing with heights that whereas 
those totally unacquainted with them invariably over-estimate them, 
men most accustomed to cliff climbing generally under-rate them. 
Thus in the present instance we estimated the cavern to be only 
200 ft. above us; the mean of four subsequent observations by 
aneroid proved it to be over 250 ft. 
Between us and the great cliff lay, at an angle of about 45 
degrees, a talus of shattered limestone which had obviously fallen 
from the heights above and issued from a huge rift or chasm some 
roo yards on our right. This talus was about 150 ft. in height at the 
point it emerged. Immediately in front of us was a vertical cliff of 
the same height, with a very steeply sloping terrace along the top, 
evidently accessible from the talus. Upon this terrace were sundry 
detached crags and then came a second cliff about 150 ft. in height. 
It was in this cliff that the cavern containing the nest was situated, 
less than 60 ft. above the terrace. To reach it seemed absurdly 
1 See General View of Cliff at end of book. 
