Description of Cliff 419 
simple for it was clearly possible to escalade the cliff immediately 
below it for some way. 
My friends, as were our Spanish attendants, were enthusiastic 
and wanted to get to work at once. But I, taught by many bitter 
defeats, before committing myself to attempting to climb from 
below, reconnoitred with my glass to see if the nest could be 
reached from above. Sure enough there was a fairly defined ledge 
or terrace rather over So ft. above the Vulture’s cavern, easily 
recognizable by an uptilted pinnacle rock about 4 ft. high which 
we elected to style the ‘petrified artichoke,” from its similarity to 
that vegetable. 
If we could only get to this spot, all would be well for us. 
But here came the rub, for above the ‘‘artichoke”’ were a series 
of low cliffs 20 to 4o ft. in height interspersed with steeply sloping 
narrow terraces, mounting one upon another like steps and gradu- 
ally losing themselves in the heights over 500 ft. above us 
amid the drifting clouds which eddied about the crest of the 
mountain. 
It was not an encouraging prospect; for an hour past we had 
been above the snowline and although the snow was of no depth 
save in the drifts, the cold was intense. Wherever the sun had 
thawed the snow on previous days, there was now a coating of 
ice; hence climbing was peculiarly dangerous. 
We however decided to attempt in the first instance to reach 
the nest from below and, having shouldered our ropes, made our 
way painfully up the great talus. Arrived at the terrace, we 
sidled along it and after a tough scramble through the detached 
pinnacle rocks already alluded to found ourselves immediately below 
the nest. 
And how easy it looked! Various fissures and joints, over- 
grown with tufts of mosses, saxafrage, heath and scrub made 
it possible at a point only a few yards to the right of the nest 
