The Climb to Nest No. 2 429 
had traversed on our former visit, while the second, which was 
much smaller, in fact, a mere sloping ledge, inclined sharply 
upwards for about 60 ft. to a point about 30 ft. below the new 
nest which for convenience of reference I will call Nest No. 2. 
The cliff in which was the nest though small was overhung and 
clearly unscaleable from below. 
About 130 ft. above the nest were some serrated tooth-like caps 
above a steeply sloping terrace and it was quite evident that it would 
be possible to be lowered from this spot, assuming it to be accessible. 
Here lay our difficulty, for above it was a big cliff another hundred 
feet in height at least and other cliffs again above that. To effect 
a descent from such a height would have meant hours of work 
and it was even doubtful whether the 300 ft. of rope we had 
with us would have been sufficient. Our hopes lay in being able 
to escalade the sheer cliff forming one side of the chasm and thus 
gain the tooth-like crags above the nest by a short cut. We 
therefore started up the big talus and when about 170 ft. up it, 
leaving the bed of the chasm, climbed the cliff on our right (the 
side farthest from the nest), until we gained a point on a level with 
the nest which was now not 4o yards from us. 
I found by aneroid that it was about 260 ft. above our starting 
point and in consequence about 1o ft. higher than the first nest. 
Returning to the gloomy chasm, we scrambled up it for another 
hundred feet and then halted whilst I sent on our two ex-goat- 
herds to reconnoitre up the cliff and try to find a possible route. 
This they did admirably and soon we were assembled at a point 
360 ft. up the cliff and (as | know by aneroid) only about too ft. 
above the nest. 
But we were in a most awkward and dangerous position; | 
have already described the up-tilted strata forming the mountain 
at this point. We now found ourselves standing on fractured 
and worn rocks sloping at an angle of 45 degrees to the edge of 
