Woodville Republican. (Woodville, Miss.) 185?-current, 1883-10-27
A CLIFF ADVENTURE.

CLlFE ADt6NI UhEs
In the far north, long ago, when |
was boy, my brother and used to be
expert cragsmen, if may use the terrii
Few things gave us more pleasure than
to scale all the steep precipices, of
which there was no lack in our neigh
borhood. These precipices ranged from
one hundred to four hundred feet in
height We were never troubled with
dizziness and, boy-like in such pastime,
did not know what fear meant Dan
gerous it certainly was,g and many
narrow escape we had. / shudder now
at the thought of the places in which we
ventured. One of our adventures after
birds eggs very nearly proved fatal.
We had often tired, but had always
failed, to obtain any ravens eggs for
our collections. We were anxious to
procure specimens, and determined
that somehow or other we should. Now,
be it known to those who are not ac-
quainted with the character and habits
of the "bird of Ill omen.n that he is one
of the most sagaciouS and cunning of
the feathered tribe. He builds his nest
high up in the most inaccessible cliffs,
so that it is almost impossible to. reach
it except with the help of rope, and
even with such assistance it is no easy
task. We knew of raven nest about
fifty feet from the top of very steep
and bare precipice of four hundred
feet which there was no possibility of
scaling in the usual way. Above the
nest the cliff was partly overhanging,
and beneath and on both sides, except
the spot chosen for the nest ON solitary
shelf, it was smooth and steep as
wall. For many years the same pair of
ravens, safe and unmolested, had occu-
pied this spot and reared their broods;
but, with the pertinacious ardor of
bOyhoOd, we were resolved that
they should no longer find that their
eyrie was impregnable, and we laid our
plans accordingly. 1t was necessary to
have recourse to rope, that one of us
might be lowered down from the brow
of the cliff; also pulley, in the form
of what sailors call ''block," was re-
| quired; for one of us would, of course,
have been unable to haul up the other
with the single rope only; but the doub-
ling of the rope by means of the block
would diminish the weight and pressure
by one-half, and bring the task well
within our strength. Accordingly, we
obtained a coil of about forty fathoms
of rope, such as is commonly used for
the sheet of the sail of small boat; also
small block, and strong oak stake
The brow of the cliff was smooth,
grassy sward, the turf being hard, and,
| to all appearance, tough. We secured
one end of the rope to the stake, which
we drove firmly in the ground right
above the ravens nest. My brother
was to make the descent; / was to stand
by the rope and manage the lowering
and hauling up. A small piece of wood
to sit on having been attached to loop
of rope and secured to the lower end of
the block, all was ready for action, and
the descent commenced. Slowly paid
| out the rope. l could not see over the
cliff, but was quite within easy ear-shot,
and every second or two the shout came
up: Lower away, lower away;" at last
it was: ..Hold hard" and in little:
''All right. Haul up now" / knew
that the prize was won, and began to
pull away Justify and cheerily; but when
[ had recovered not more than three Oh
four yards, to my horror and dismay ]
noticed the treacherous soil yielding to
the strain, and the stake being drawn.
had barely time to seize the stake end
of the rope. Another moment and the
stake would have been wrenched out oi
the earth and dragged right over, and
well, I dare say should have held on
am sure should; but that would have
been of no avail. My poor brother must
have fallen down, down, till the block
caught the stake with jerk, which
would have fetched me over, too, If
had kept my hold; and down those ter
rible hundreds of feet we should have
been dashed to inevitable destruction
AS it was, the situation was dreadful
enough for us both. For some time al
least I could hold on, but that was all
1t was beyond my strength now to bau
in one yard of rope. .sHaul away, can,
you?n shouted my brother, little think
ing what dreadful thing had hap
pened.
| paused a moment before answering
Twas afraid, when he knew the truth
that he might faint or lose presence o.
mind at the appalling position in which
he was placed. | did him injustice.
braver, cooler spirit never beat in breas
of man or boy. Don't be alarmed =
cried, ..the stake is loosening little.
That is how put it, to lessen the shocl
to his nerves. keep still moment,
/ added, It'll / see what can be DONE ;
But, in truth, / could not think wha
was to be done could do no more thar
hold my place and my hold. HAS th'
stake entirely slipped its holdp" h
cried. II fear so, yes" replied. "Bu
don't be afraid / can easily hold you a
you are till we think what can be done.
He knew the worst then we both knew
too well the peril of the situation. Hat
he been only few feet from the brov
/ of the precipice, he might have got vi
by the rope hand over hand, for he wa
light, wiry and active, and his muscle
strengthened and toughened by constan