104 WITH NATURE AND A CAMERA. 



to negotiate it successfully, and presently joined 

 my brother and the young Shags, which were 

 trembling and shaking in a most distressing state 

 of fear. After a great deal of trouble, and the 

 enduring of a vastly unpleasant smell arising from 

 the filthy condition of the nest and rocks round 

 about, which were plastered with excreta, we suc- 

 ceeded in making what we hoped would turn out 

 to be a fairly decent picture. I do not know 

 whether it has ever been noticed or recorded before, 

 but according to my experience the nests of Shags 

 are far less frequently surrounded by fish in all 

 stages of decay than are those of Cormorants. 



As soon as we had done with the long-necked, 

 shivering creatures, each of us prepared to de- 

 scend by his own chosen path. My brother got 

 down first, and just as he was travelling along a 

 ledge directly beneath the lump of rock I have just 

 mentioned as being jammed betwixt the two upright 

 crags, we had the narrowest escape from a terrible 

 accident I have ever witnessed. No sooner had I 

 placed my right foot on the stone, which I had 

 every reason to believe was as firmly locked in its 

 position as the keystone of an arch, than it twirled 

 over and slipped out, and I suffered the extreme 

 horror of seeing it descend straight upon my 

 brother. By a stroke of wonderful good luck he 

 saw it start, and making a dexterous bound just 

 managed to clear its path by a hairsbreadth. It 

 struck the ledge of rock with a dull crash, pul- 

 verised a portion of itself into a sulphureous smell- 

 ing little cloud of powder, and thundering onwards 

 down the steep slope of the cliff, finally bounded 

 into the sea with a churning splash. I should 

 undoubtedly have followed it had I not had my 

 hands hard pressed against the boulder on either 



