Eagle testing in the Tyrol.

Bruce Herald, Volume IX, Issue 817, 4 July 1876, Page 7

Eagle testing in the Tyrol.

In Mr W. A. Grohman's work on "Tyrol and the Tyrolese," the following account of an adventure after eagles' nests is of interest : An eagle's nest had been " spotted " in a cliff 800 feet high, far away in the mountains, and Mr Grohman determined to capture the eagle. Seated on a stick tied to the rope, he was lowered from a projecting ledge by a party of woodcutters, and when opposite the eyrie drew himself up by his hooked pole, and, to his surprise and pleasure, found two young eagles. They resented his intrusion ; but, to quote his own words : — " Detaching the stout canvas bag with which I had provided myself from my seat, I proceeded to bag one of my young prisoners. While he was yet struggling in the ample folds of the bag which I had thrown over his head, I pinioned his formidable talons, and then, unbagging him, I proceeded to secure his wings and beak by means of a piece of cord. I then deposited him in the bag, which, although a good- sized one, he entirely filled out, thus excluding the idea of putting the other bird into the same receptacle. As it is a rare occurrence that two young eagles are found in one eyrie, I was unprovided with a second bag, and consequently was placed in a fix regarding the means of securing my second prisoner. After a good many ineffectual trials I at last managed to secure him by flinging my coat over him and then slipping a running noose over his feet, after which it was easy enough to bind and prevent him from doing any mischief. The bag containing the first bird I tied to a signal cord hanging by my side ; the other I resolved to carry up in my hand, there being little danger of his hurting me, if the cords of his shackles held out against his vigorous efforts to get free." In attempting to swing himself off from the nest by means of the pole, Mr Grohman came to grief. " The first hard pull of the men at the rope nearly 200 feet over my head, which, contrary to my instructions, was much too vigorous, wrenched the pole out of my grasp, sending the latter to the bottom of the precipice, and me at a fearful pace outwards. My position was., as anybody can imagine, moat dangerous. The velocity of the retrograde movement would dash me with terrible force against the solid wall of the rock. There was only one way, and that a very dubious one, of saving myself. Fortunately, my presence of mind did not forsake me in this critical moment, and I grasped at this only chance of preserving my life and limbs. Tilting the upper part of my body backward and my legs forward, I awaited the dreaded shock, taking of course the chance of my striking the rock feet foremost as the only way of saving myself. The retrograde movement of the I pendulum, to which my weight supplied [the velocity, set in, and a second afterwards I was saved, having struck the rock with my feet, which, well protected as they were by my immensely heavy iron-shod shoes, were the only part of my body which could have effectually resisted the shock. The only bad result of the contact witk the rock was a paralysed feeling ia my legs, and a prickling sensa-: tion in my back and loins." But the block which kept the rope from the sharp edge of the rock had fallen, and two or three hours elapsed before another could be chopped frpm a distant tree. All this time Mr Grohman sat dangling over the tremendous precipice. A thunderstorm came on, and, drenphed hjm to the efein, and there was the constant dread of the return of the parent eagles. At length, just before nightfall, he was hauled up, with his capture, to the leclgp of safety. This astounding incident may possibly try the fajth of the reader, and lead him to doubt whether Mr Grohman is not poking fun at hiTQ.