THE GUILLEMOT. 409 



At] each end of this waistband is a loophole, through which they reeve 

 the smaller rope. Sometimes an iron hook and eye are used in lieu 

 of this loop. A man now holds the rope firmly in his hand, and 

 gradually lowers his comrade down the precipice. While he is 

 descending he has hold of the other rope, which was fastened to the 

 iron bar ; and, with this assistance, he passes from ledge to ledge, 

 and from rock to rock, picking up the eggs of the guillemot, and 

 putting them into two bags, which he had slung across his shoulder 

 ere he commenced his arduous undertaking. When he has filled 

 these bags with eggs, he jerks the rope, and the motion informs his 

 friend at the top that it is now time to draw him up. On coming 

 up again to the place from whence he first set out, all the eggs are 

 taken from the bags, and put into a large basket prior to their being 

 packed in hampers and carried off in a cart by wholesale dealers, 

 who purchase them from the climbers for sixpence the score. At 

 Bridlington and the neighbouring places the eggs are retailed at a 

 halfpenny a piece. 



The rocks are searched for eggs every third day, provided the 

 weather be fair. It requires considerable address on the part of the 

 descending climber to save himself from being hit by fragments of 

 the rock, which are broken off by the rope coming in contact with 

 them. He avoids the danger, by moving sidewise when the stone 

 is falling, and by taking care, as he goes down, to clear away with 

 his foot any portion of the rock that seems ready to give way. One 

 of the climbers, while he was imparting to me instructions how to 

 act, grinned purposely, and showed his upper jaw. I learned by 

 his story, that, last year, a falling stone had driven two of his front 

 teeth down his throat ; while the poor climber, with all his dexterity, 

 was unable to fend off the blow. 



As I was lowered down, the grandeur and sublimity of the scene 

 beggared all description, and amply repaid any little unpleasant 

 sensations which arose on the score of danger. The sea was roaring 

 at the base of this stupendous wall of rocks; thousands and tens 

 of thousands of wild fowl were in an instant on the wing ; the kitti- 

 wakes and jackdaws rose in circling flight ; while most of the guille- 

 mots, razorbills, and puffins left the ledges of the rocks, in a straight 

 and downward line, with a peculiarly quick motion of the pinions, 



