66 



cliffs by the seashore. One day while out collecting, 

 the tide came in so rapidly as to entirely cut off my 

 retreat, and I undertook to climb the precipitous cliff 

 about one hundred feet high. When I had ascended 

 about two-thirds of the way, I came to a place where 

 I could neither go up nor down. 



Calling for help was useless, for I was miles from the 

 nearest house. I tried to think of some way to extri- 

 cate myself from my perilous position, and, clinging 

 as best I could to a jutting prominence of the rock, 

 took out my pocket-knife and began cutting steps in 

 the limestone cliff. It was tiresome work, but a look 

 at the angry waves seventy feet below would make me 

 turn again to the cliff, resolved to conquer. How 

 cautiously I pulled myself up step by step ! My legs 

 trembled so from the strain of holding the weight of 

 my body in such a cramped position, that I was in 

 momentary peril of falling. A plant of New Zealand 

 flax, with its long green leaves, hung invitingly over 

 the edge of the cliff above my head. 



At last its strong, tough blades came within my 

 grasp, and drawing myself up to the top I lay for half 

 an hour exhausted and trembling, thinking how deli- 

 cious is life. 



We left Oamaru early in March. Father visited the 

 great Tasman Glacier at the foot of Mount Cook, where 

 he nearly lost his life in swimming the Tasman River. 

 In the mean time Shelley and I had gone to the city 



