26 WILD LIFE AT HOME. 



not quite so simple as it looks. The reasoning powers 

 of the climber tell him that he is as safe as the Bank 

 of England, but his original instincts of self-pre- 

 servation are in this instance stronger, and make 

 him believe that he is not. 



Our illustration on page 25 shows how to step 

 boldly out over the edge of a cliff, trusting implicitly 

 to the ropes and the men who are attending to them. 

 Even then an overhanging crag requires very care- 

 ful treatment until the climber swings clear of it 

 and becomes quite insulated, as shown in the picture 

 opposite, because in walking down its face his 

 feet, especially if he makes a descent in his boots, 

 are likely to slip out, in which case his body would 

 of necessity strike heavily against the rock. 



A very good bit of preliminary training for the 

 would- be cragsman in the use of climbing-ropes is 

 to get a friend to lower him over a high garden 

 wall or down some miniature cliff. It will give 

 him a capital insight into the business, and beget 

 a deal of confidence. I went down a rough over- 

 hanging crag seventy feet deep the very first time 

 I donned the climbing-ropes, but it required all 

 the nerve and resolution I could summon ; and I 

 would strongly recommend the novice to try a 

 cliff of modest dimensions for a start, unless he 

 be gifted with a head as cool as ice and nerves 

 of iron. 



One very important precaution in fact, so far 

 as the descender's safety depends upon his own 



