THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 2896, 15 September 1909, Page 76

THE NATURALIST.

Effg-gatheriiig from the Sea Cliffs. One of the few professions not yet overcrowded is the gathering of sea birds' eggs as carried on by the natives of Orkney. This unique industry seems to violate some of the bestTgrotrmded of business maxims. That there is " plenty of room at the top " is hopelessly untrue in the egg-gathering line of business. Halfway down there is room enough and eggs are plentiful. At the foot of the cliff one has the greatest luck of all ! Cliff also forms a conspicuous exception to another generally accepted maxim — that it is easier to go 1 down than up. Strange as it may seem, in , cliff climbing the upward journey is easier ; than the downward one. i ' Most of the men who go egg-gathering enter into it with ac uiuet zest as does the sporteman with his gun or the angler with his rod; in fact, the work is very much of a 6port, and is followed as often for its inherent exeiteanent as for the value of the eggs when gathered. Cliff-climbing » per- , haps the most dangerous employment in tK& world. A false step, a slight stumble, the losing of a foothold, and without the slight- ] , est warning the climber is launched into \ eternity. But, with all its dangei-a, such is 1 the fascination of scaling giddy height*, creeping along precarious ledges, and literally cheating fate at every few laps that if one becomes expert in cliff-clim>bing it is hardly possible to abandon it. It goes without saying that to descend a 200 ft to , • 500 ft crag is not quite so easy ac dancing ' I on the polished floor of a ballroom It requires a cool head, strong muscles, and ; great judgment to overcome the difficulties ! with which this perilous work is encom- ' passed. That these faculties are by no means raire ib exemplified by the following I incident, told of one of the west ■daring and successful of the Orkney cragsmen. He , was slowly edging hie way along a narrow ' and uncertain ledge on an exoeodingly steep 1 cliff. Just before reaching a projecting ' corner that required the most skilful ne-go- ; tiation he found he had absent-mindedly ! put the wrong foot foremost. Going back j was impossible. He stopped short, slowly : drew out his snuffbox with one hand, and , took a pinch. j Carefully replacing the box, be flattened himself against the cliff wall, and gave a comical frog-like little jump. He had got . the right foot foremost and was safe t Later, on coming to the top, a companion who had noticed the dangerous fix he was in ' asked him why, at that critical moment, j he took snuff. Speaking in the vernacular, I he naively answered, "Eh, mon, I needed it ! " Sometimes a man goes egg-gathering alone, carrying his life in his hands, for in case of accident no help is possible. Usually, however, egg-hunters join together in bands of about lwuf a «V»»<w ftn^ ever them fi"d

' the job almost too mud for their muted efforts. Imagine a oliff 300 ft in heigiht. The scream of the sea fowl and a gjanoe over the edge show it to be the .nesting-place of thousands of gulls and guillemots. Looking down from such a height, if one is not used to it, makes one feel giddy, for the face of the cliff is almost perpendicular. At intervals of from 20ft to 60ft there are projecting ledges, some almost flat on the top, and others sloping outwards at a dangerous angle. On these, and in the wide ; crevices, the sea-birds lay their eggs. Some- I times they have well-consrructed nests, at i other times they merely, scrape holes in J the sand, and the eggs lie exposed on the ba<re rock. This is the place for conxmenc- ! ing operations. An iron crowbar, 3ft in length, is driven halfway into the firm, heathery turf at the cliff top, well back from the edge, so as to secure a thoroughly substantial hold. A strong rope with a loop at one end has a turn given to it round the iron bar, and a couple of the cliff-men stand ready to lower a companion as required. - Into the loop steps the man who is to go down first. Grasping the rope, he slides over and disappears. One of the others, from a point of vantage, follows his every movement and si<rnals his orders. The cragsman wiho has gore down is armed with, a largo, hive-shaped basket called a " casie," 6l'ung over hia shoulder, for oarrying the eggs- Hound iis waist, is a, second rope, Jo be used v when ftie first is almost, run out, ' and also for emergencies. But he is already on the first ledge — a flat, narrow oive, presenting no special difficulties. Get v ting .out oi the' loop, be- leaves the rope, tod first goes four ot five yards to thfe right " and ' then as far to the left Quickly he gathers all the eggs within reach, and in a few minutes he is going down again. He , can no longer hear voices' from above, and ; communicates by signal only. The next resting-place is a huge ledge sloping away seawards at a terrific angle, and almost destitute of safe foothold. But he rarely hesitates. Sometimes he is in sight and 6ometimes lidden between shelving rooks Without eomirnr to his rope he slides on to a lower projection and disappears altogether from view The moments pass, the watcher on ifao top looks anxious, and thinks of going down to see what is wrong, when suddenly a head appears, the well-known basket comes in sight, and all is well. If many ef gs have been secured another rope is lowered, the basket carefully fastened, pulled up, and again returned j empty. The limit of the egg-gatherer's , rope from above has been reached, how- | ever, and the man below must manage for himself. Now it is that the use of the spare rope comes in. He unwinds it from [ has waist, secures it to as good a hold as he can, and with the help of this down ho goes, and down -again. He is once moreout of sight of the watchers afcove. As be goes lower and lower he searches every ledge and crevice with care. It is, here -that his skill is •severely tested. - WJien . be has left his rope hanging, all he has to hold by may be a projection of rook or a toft of rough gsrasß ''growing from some cranny, and on these his life may depend. The heights above- him seem to swim in their appaUiog steepness, the head grows dixzy, and the heart feint. Far 'below the long bdHows roH in, with a deep boom that sounds ominous and terrible. Bat the cragsman never stops to notice. ' He steps from ledge to. lodge and point to point, agile and surefooted. He has been down almost to hhe water's edge, and is now mounting up and up. Ah! there is a nest he must have missed on the way down. Tt rests with its three beautifully mottled eggs on a narrow ledge far out to the left. It |is too tempting. He leaves the rope and is going «ut towards it. This time, however, he is moving very slowly, using great caution, and testing his foothold at every stop. Good heavens! He is gone; the footing has given way. No! There he is still, but lower down! As he felt himself go he drove his fingers into that long grass skirting the whole length of the ledge and beyond, and thus miraculously saved his life. Raising himself, he places the eggs gently in his basket and edges along to the rope once more. He ascends and is toon in sight of the dangling loop of the upper rope. His appearance from below is hailed with a about of relief from those on the cliff' top. He seats himself in the loop once more and gives the signal. Here and there the cliff slopes inward, and it is beyond the power of man to scale it by hand alone. The men on the top pull strongly, and up he goes. Reaching a projecting ledge ne pushes himself outward and dear of it as the rope tightens. Then up again. At last, with a long strong pull all together, he is landed on the edge of the cliff. Big brown hands clutch him and pull him into safety. It is now another cragsman's turn to go down. By nightfall every man will have filled his basket or " casie " with eggs and be on the homeward march as quietly as though he were merely returning from sun ordinary day's work. — John A. R. Gray, in