AN APPRECIATION OF THE RECONNAISSANCE
BY PROFESSOR NORMAN COLLIE, F.R.S.
President of the Alpine Club
The chance of wandering into the wild places of the earth is given to
few. But those who have once visited the Himalaya will never forget
either the magnificence or the beauty of that immense mountain land,
whether it be the valley country that lies between the great
snow-covered ranges and the plains, where wonderful forests, flowers,
clear streams and lesser peaks form a fitting guard to the mighty
snow-peaks that lie beyond, or the great peaks themselves, that can be
seen far away to the North, as one approaches through the foot-hills
that lead up to them. The huge snow-covered giants may be a week's
journey away, they may be far more, yet when seen through the clear air
of the hills, perhaps 100 miles distant, they look immense,
inaccessible, remote and lonely. But as one approaches nearer and nearer
to them, they ever grow more splendid, glistening white in the mid-day
sun, rose-red at dawn, or a golden orange at sunset, with faint
opalescent green shadows that deepen as the daylight fails, till when
night comes they stand far up in the sky, pale and ghostly against the
glittering stars. Those who have been fortunate enough to see these
things, know the fascination they exert. It is the call of the great
spaces and of the great mountains. It is a call that mocks at the song
of the Lotus-eaters of old, it is more insidious than the Siren's call,
and it is a call that, once heard, is never forgotten.
One may be contented and busy with the multitudinous little events of
ordinary civilised life, but a chance phrase or some allusion wakes the
memory of the wild mountain lands, and one feels sick with desire for
the open spaces and the old trails. The dreams of the wanderer are far
more real than most of the happenings that make up the average man's
life. It may be the memory of some desolate peaks set against an angry
sky, or of islands set in summer seas, or some grim fight with deserts
of endless sands, or with tropical forests that have held their growth
for a thousand years; it may be the memory of rushing rivers, or lakes
set in wild woods where the beavers build their houses, or sunsets over
great oceans--the spell binds one, the present does not exist, one is
back again on the old trail--"The Red Gods have called us out, and we
must go."
There is no part of the world where lofty mountains exist at all
comparable with the Himalaya. Elsewhere the highest is Aconcagua, 23,060
feet. But in the Himalaya there are over eighty peaks that tower above
24,000 feet, probably twenty above 26,000 feet, six above 27,000 feet,
and the highest of all, Mount Everest, is 29,141 feet.
The huge range of mountains, of which the Himalaya forms the chief part,
is by far the greatest mountain range in the world. Starting to the
North of Afghanistan, it sweeps Eastwards, without a break, to the
confines of China, over 2,000 miles away. Yet in this vast world of
mountains, very few have been climbed. For many years to come the
Himalaya will provide sport for the mountaineer when most of the other
mountain ranges of the world will have been exhausted, as far as
exploration and new ascents are concerned.
Mountaineering is a sport of which Englishmen should be proud; for they
were the first really to pursue it as a pastime. The Alpine Club was the
first mountaineering club, and if one inquires into the records of
climbing and discovery amongst the mountains of the world, one usually
finds that it was an Englishman who led the way. It is the Englishman's
love of sport for its own sake that has enticed him on to battle with
the dangers and difficulties that are offered with such a lavish hand by
the great mountains.
As a sport, mountaineering is second to none. It is the finest mental
and physical tonic that a man can take. Whether it be the grim
determination of desperate struggles with difficult rocks, or with ice,
or whether it be the sight of range after range of splendid peaks
basking in the sunshine, or of mists half hiding the black precipices,
or the changing fairy colours of a sunrise, or the subtle curves of the
wind-blown snow, all these are good for one. They produce a sane mind in
a sane body. The joy of living becomes a real and a great joy, all is
right with the world, and life flies on golden wings. It is, of course,
true that there are many other beautiful and health-giving places
besides the mountains. The great expanses of the prairie lands, the
forests, the seas set with lonely islands, and in England the downs and
the homely lanes and villages nestling amongst woods, with clear streams
wandering through the pastures where the cattle feed--all these are
good; but the mountains give something more. There things are larger,
man is more alone, one feels that one is much nearer to Nature, one is
not held down by an artificial civilisation. And although the life may
be more strenuous (for Nature can be savage at times, as well as
beautiful), and the struggle may be hard, yet the battle is the more
worth winning.
Nowhere in any mountain land does Nature offer the good things of the
wilds with more prodigal hand than in the Himalaya. On the Southern
slopes, coming down from the great snow-peaks, are the finest river
gorges in the world, wonderful forests of mighty trees, open alps
nestling high up at the head of the valleys, that look out over great
expanses of the lesser ranges; and as one ascends higher and higher, the
views of the great peaks draped in everlasting snow, changing
perpetually as the clouds and mists form and re-form over them, astonish
one by their magnificence.
All things that the Himalaya gives are big things, and now that the
mountaineer has conquered the lesser ranges, he turns to the Himalaya,
where the peaks stand head and shoulders above all others. Up to the
present, however, owing to the difficulties of distance and size, none
of the greater peaks have been climbed.
In climbing the great peaks of the Himalaya, the difficulties are far
greater than those of less lofty ranges. On most of the highest the mere
climbing presents such difficulties that it would be foolish to attempt
their ascent. Thousands of feet of steep rock or ice guard their
summits. Unless climbing above 24,000 feet is moderately easy, and no
strenuous work is required, it could not be accomplished. For in the
rarefied air at high altitudes there is insufficient oxygen to promote
the normal oxidation of bodily tissue. Above 20,000 feet a cubic foot of
air contains less than half the amount of oxygen that it does at
sea-level. As the whole metabolism of the body is kept in working order
by the oxygen supplied through the lungs, the obvious result of high
altitudes is to interfere with the various processes occurring in the
system. The combustion of bodily material is less, the amount of energy
produced is therefore less also, and so capacity for work is diminished
progressively as one ascends.
But that one is able still to work, and work hard, at these altitudes is
evident by the experiences of Dr. Longstaff and Mr. Meade. On Trisul,
23,360 feet, Dr. Longstaff in ten and a half hours ascended from 17,450
feet to the summit. Whilst on Kamet, Mr. Meade's coolies carried a camp
up to 23,600 feet. Dr. Kellas also in 1920 found his ascent on
moderately easy snow above 21,000 feet approximated to 600 feet per
hour. All these climbers were, however, acclimatised to high altitudes.
The effect on anyone making a balloon or aeroplane ascent from sea-level
would be different. Tissaudier in a balloon ascent fainted at 26,500
feet and on regaining consciousness found both his companions dead. Even
on Pike's Peak, 14,109 feet, in the United States, many of those who go
up in the railway suffer from faintness, sickness, breathlessness and
general lassitude. Yet there are places on the earth,--the
Pamirs,--where people live their lives at higher altitudes than Pike's
Peak, without any effects of the diminished pressure being felt. They
are acclimatised; their bodies, being accustomed to their surroundings,
are good working machines.
Although it is true that at high altitudes there is less oxygen to
breathe, the body rapidly protects itself by increasing the number of
red blood corpuscles. These red corpuscles are the carriers of oxygen
from the air to the various parts of the body. An increased number of
carriers means an increase of oxygen to the body. It is just possible,
therefore, that anyone properly acclimatised to, say, 23,000 feet would
be able to ascend the remaining 6,000 feet, to the summit of Mount
Everest. Moreover, if oxygen could be continuously supplied to the
climbers by adventitious aid there is little doubt that 29,000 feet
could be reached.
The physiological difficulties met with in ascending to high altitudes
are doubtless of a very high order, but can to a certain extent be
eliminated by ascending gradually, day after day, so as to allow the
body to accommodate itself by degrees to the new surroundings.
There are, however, other difficulties that must be reckoned with, such
as intense cold and frequent high winds. In any engine where loss of
heat occurs, there is a corresponding loss of available energy. A
bitterly cold wind not only robs one of much heat, but lowers the
vitality as well. At altitudes above 24,000 feet, the temperature is
often arctic, and the thermometer may fall far below zero. On the other
hand, the rays of the sun are intense. The ultra-violet rays, that are
mostly cut off by the air at sea-level, are a real source of danger
where there is only one-third of an atmosphere pressure, as in the case
at the summit of Mount Everest.
The mountaineer also encounters dangers in the Himalaya, on the same
scale as the difficulties. A snow-slide on a British mountain or in the
Alps is an avalanche; often in the Himalaya it becomes almost a
convulsion of nature. The huge ice-fields and glaciers that hang on the
upper slopes of the mountains, when let loose, have not hundreds of feet
to fall, but thousands, and the wind that is thereby produced spreads
with hurricane force over the glaciers below, on to which the main body
of the avalanche has fallen. Sometimes even the broken debris will rush
across a wide glacier.
Rock falls also assume gigantic proportions in the Himalaya. But all
these dangers can be largely avoided by the skilled mountaineer, and he
can choose routes up a mountain where they are not likely to occur. Some
risks, however, must be always run, but they can be reduced to a
minimum.
On Mount Everest, as we now know, most of these dangers will be less
than on any of the other very high mountains in the Himalaya. Also there
are no difficulties in the approach to Mount Everest from India. In this
respect it differs from such peaks as K^2 and others. As a rule the
highest mountains in the Himalaya always lie far back from the plains in
the main chain, beyond the foot-hills and the intervening ranges. To
approach them from the South in India, weeks of travel are often
necessary, up deep gorges, and over rivers, where it is next to
impossible to take baggage animals. Fortunately the approach to Mount
Everest by the route from Darjeeling to Phari Dzong and thence over an
easy pass into Tibet avoids all these difficulties. In Tibet a high
tableland, averaging 13,000 feet, is reached.
Travelling in Tibet, North of the main range of the Himalaya, is
entirely different from that on the South of the range. Instead of
deep-cut gorges, a rolling, bare, stone-covered country exists, over
which it is easy to take baggage animals, the only obstacle being the
rivers that sometimes are not bridged, and are often swollen by the
melting snow. From Kampa Dzong to Tingri Dzong, the base of operations
for the Expedition, is an open country. Mount Everest lies 40 to 50
miles South of Tingri Dzong; the approach also is without difficulty.
The ascent of Mount Everest was not the primary object of the Expedition
of 1921. A mountain the size of Mount Everest cannot be climbed by
simply getting to it and starting the ascent immediately.
A reasonable route has to be discovered to the summit; which usually can
only be done by a complete reconnaissance of the mountain. This has been
admirably done, and a most magnificent series of photographs has been
brought back by the members of the Expedition.
Mount Everest consists of a huge pyramid, having three main aretes, the
West, the South-east, and the North-east. It is the last, the North-east
arete, that is obviously the easiest, being snow-covered along most of
its length. Nowhere is it excessively steep, and nowhere are there
precipices of rock to stop the climber. We now know that it can be
reached, by means of a subsidiary ridge, from a col 23,000 feet, the
Chang La, that lies to the north of the North-east arete. This col was
the highest point on Mount Everest reached by the Expedition, and had it
not been for savage weather a considerably higher altitude would have
been attained; for above the col for several thousand feet lay an
unbroken snow-slope.
It was only after much hard work, and over two months' exploration, that
a route to this col was discovered. As is usually the case even with
mountains far smaller than Mount Everest, it can be seen that if a
point, often a long way below the summit, can be reached, not much
farther difficulty will be encountered. But the puzzle is, how can that
point be arrived at from below?
Quite early in the exploration of Mount Everest it was obvious that if
the 23,000-foot col could be reached, most of the physical difficulties
of the approach to the mountain would have been surmounted. But it was
not so obvious how to win to the col. It lies on the South-east at the
head of the main Rongbuk Glacier; it was therefore to this glacier that
the mountaineers, Messrs. Mallory and Bullock, went from Tingri Dzong on
June 23. They spent a month exploring the country to the North and the
West of Mount Everest from the Rongbuk Glacier. Much valuable
information was accumulated. A peak, Ri-Ring, 22,520 feet, was climbed
and a pass on the West ridge of Mount Everest was visited, from which
were seen views of the South-west face of the great mountain and also
many high peaks in Nepal. Unfortunately, however, no feasible route from
the main Rongbuk Glacier to the 23,000-foot col could be found. The next
attempt was made by leaving the Rongbuk Glacier and exploring the Kama
Valley that flows South-east from Mount Everest. Here a most magnificent
ice-world was discovered. For a chain of giant peaks running South-east
from Mount Everest to Makalu, 27,790 feet, guards the whole of the
South-west side of the valley. But as an approach to the North-east
arete of Mount Everest this valley was found to be useless. From the
point of view, however, of exploration it was most fortunate that this
valley was visited. The photographs of Makalu and its satellite
Chomoloenzo, N.^{53}, 25,413 feet, are superb; moreover the lower reaches
of the Kama Valley, as it dips down to the deep Arun Valley, was full of
luxuriant vegetation, totally different from the wind-swept wilderness
of Tibet.
The Kharta Valley, that runs North-east from Mount Everest, was the next
exploited, to see whether from it an easy approach to the North-east
arete existed. But by this time the monsoon weather was at its worst.
Days of rain and mist, with snow higher up, succeeded one another,
making climbing impossible. However, towards the end of September a high
camp at 22,500 feet was made at the head of the Kharta Valley. From this
camp the 23,000-foot col, Chang La, was finally reached, by crossing the
head of a glacier that ran to the North. Higher climbing was out of the
question; a furious North-west gale lasting for four days drove the
party off the mountain.
The glacier mentioned above, running to the North, was found to be a
tributary of the main Rongbuk Glacier, and has been named the East
Rongbuk Glacier. There is no doubt that the easiest route to Chang La,
the North Col, will not be all the way round by the Kharta Valley, but
up this East Rongbuk Glacier.
Several other interesting expeditions were carried out by other members
of the party. Colonel Howard Bury visited the group of five great peaks
(25,202 to 26,867 feet), that lie about 15 miles North-west of Mount
Everest. He explored the Kyetrak Glacier to its summit the Khombu La,
also crossed the Phuese La with the Rongshar Valley that drains down into
Nepal. Later he visited another pass on the ridge that connects Mount
Everest with Makalu. From this pass most interesting views of the
country South of Mount Everest were obtained.
Major Wheeler's and Major Morshead's map of the country that lies
between the Himalaya and the Bramapootra River will be of the highest
value, and the results of Dr. Heron's geological survey and
Mr. Wollaston's collections of birds, beasts, insects and flowers, when
they have been thoroughly examined, will certainly yield much new
scientific information. The Expedition therefore has accomplished all
that was expected of it, and has brought back material of the greatest
interest, from a part of the world about which almost nothing was known,
and into which Europeans had never been.
The attempt to ascend Mount Everest itself necessarily had to be
postponed, but this year the Expedition that is being sent out will have
for its primary object the ascent of the mountain. There will be easy
access to the base of the peak from Choebuk, where a base camp will be
established, and from thence a feasible route on to the summit of the
great North-east arete has been discovered.
Most fortunately this year General Bruce was able to undertake the
leadership of the Expedition. His unrivalled experience of climbing in
the Himalaya and particularly his special capacity for handling
Himalayan people will be invaluable to the Expedition. Not only will he
be able to organise and instil the right spirit into the coolie corps
upon whom so much will depend for ultimate success, but he will also be
able to give much wise advice to the actual climbers who are to take
part in the ascent of the mountain.
Moreover, with his long experience of dealing with Asiatics he can be
trusted to deal with the Tibetan people and officials in such a way as
to retain their present good-will.
As the main object of the Expedition this year is to make a definite
attempt to reach the summit of Mount Everest, it has been decided that
the actual climbing party should be as strong as possible. But a limit
to the size of the Expedition was imposed by the necessity of respect
for the feelings of the Tibetans, and a warning had been received from
Lhasa to keep the numbers as small as possible. For, although the
authorities at Lhasa might be friendly enough, and although there might
be no difficulty in obtaining transport from the district round Tingri
Dzong, where animals were plentiful, yet a large party might press
hardly on the inhabitants in the matter of food, such as wheat and
barley. This consideration had therefore to be regarded. Still it was
thought that the district would not be unduly pressed by a party of
twelve Europeans. This number will include a climbing party of six
chosen mountaineers, with two in reserve, making eight in all. With
General Bruce, a doctor (who would also be a naturalist), a photographer
and a painter, the expeditionary force of Europeans will be complete.
Colonel E. L. Strutt, C.M.G., has been chosen as second in command. He
possesses first-rate mountaineering experience, and has been
Vice-President of the Alpine Club.
Mr. Mallory fortunately has been able to accept the invitation of the
Committee to return to Mount Everest again this year. The remainder of
the climbing party are: Captain George Finch, who was unable to join the
Expedition last year on account of his health; Mr. T. H. Somervell, a
surgeon, a member of the Alpine Club and an extremely energetic climber;
Major E. F. Norton (Royal Artillery); and Dr. A. W. Wakefield, renowned
for his strenuous climbing in the Lake District and work in Labrador.
Besides these six mountaineers, Captain Geoffrey Bruce and Captain C.
J. Morris, both of Gurkha Regiments, and able to speak the language of
the Himalayan coolies, will assist General Bruce both in looking after
and encouraging the coolies, and also help in the general arrangement
and organisation of the Expedition as a whole. They also are accustomed
to mountaineering and will act as a reserve to the six climbers.
As doctor and naturalist Dr. T. G. Longstaff has been invited to join
the Expedition. He has made many climbs in the Himalaya and other
mountain regions, including the ascent of Trisul, 23,360 feet. He is not
expected to join the climbing party, but his experience will be of great
benefit to the Expedition generally.
As photographer, Captain J. B. L. Noel has been selected. He had
reconnoitred in the direction of Mount Everest in 1913. For several
years he has made a special study of photography in all its various
branches.
But besides photographs of the mountains, the Expedition is anxious to
bring back pictures which would alone be able not only to serve as a
record of the infinitely delicate colouring of that lofty region, but at
the same time would show how probably some of the grandest scenery of
mighty mountains should be represented from the point of view of an
artist.
Difficulty was experienced in finding a suitable painter, for painters
capable of doing justice to mountain scenery, and who are also
physically fit to travel amongst them at such altitudes as those round
Mount Everest, are few. We have, therefore, to depend on Mr. Somervell
to paint us pictures.
In the meantime communications were also passing between Colonel Bailey,
the Political Agent in Sikkim, and the Mount Everest Committee regarding
the enlistment of coolies for the special corps, and the engagement of
the very best headman obtainable to look after them. Many of the coolies
who were with the Expedition in 1921 had volunteered to rejoin this
year. But a stronger corps and more carefully selected men were needed.
The Maharaja of Nepal has been asked to allow some of the most famous
Gurkha mountain climbers to join the Expedition, and the Government of
India has been asked to put two or three non-commissioned Gurkha
officers at the service of General Bruce, to assist him generally in
looking after the coolies, and seeing that they were properly fed and
paid, and that they behaved themselves properly.
The members of last year's Expedition on their return were freely and
fully consulted as to equipment and provisioning of this year's party;
the experience gained last year has been therefore made use of in every
way possible. Suggestions for the improvement of the Mummery-Meade tents
have been adopted. Better clothing has been provided for the coolies.
General Bruce has purchased leather coats, waistcoats, socks, jerseys
and boots from the equipment provided for our troops in North Russia
during the war, which will be admirably suited for the majority of the
coolies, whilst for the few chosen for high climbing on Mount Everest
itself, clothing precisely similar to that worn by the British climbers
has been provided.
Captain Farrar and the equipment committee have provided a most varied
and ample supply of provisions which was despatched to India in January.
The Primus-stoves have been overhauled and retested by Captain Finch.
Colonel Jack and Mr. Hinks have carefully examined all the instruments
brought back. The aneroids have been retested, and all broken
instruments replaced.
The photographic outfit has been considerably enlarged, including a
cinematograph instrument. The question of supplying oxygen has been most
thoroughly gone into. All flyers in aeroplanes at high altitudes find
oxygen absolutely necessary. In mountain climbing, however, the almost
insuperable difficulty is the weight of the apparatus supplying the
oxygen. As far as possible, this weight has been reduced to a minimum. A
large number of cylinders, the lightest and smallest obtainable, have
been sent out full of compressed oxygen, and it is hoped that they will
be capable of being used by the party that will attempt to climb to the
summit of Mount Everest. If the climbers are capable of carrying them,
and so getting a continuous supply of oxygen during the whole of the
climb, there is little doubt that climbing up to 29,000 feet is
possible. In aeroplanes considerably higher altitudes have been reached
with the help of oxygen. Moreover, there is this fact in favour of the
climbers on Mount Everest, they will be acclimatised to altitudes of
20,000 feet, whilst anyone in an aeroplane is not so acclimatised,
having risen from sea-level. The climbers will have to accommodate
themselves only to an increased height of 9,000 feet, whilst those in an
aeroplane have to suffer a diminution in pressure equivalent to 29,000
feet.
Finally, arrangements have been made with the Press for the publication
of telegrams and photographs from the Expedition. Full information of
the progress of the Expedition will therefore be available for the
public, and it will be possible to follow the climbing party, after they
leave the base camp, which will be somewhere near Choebuk, as they ascend
the East Rongbuk Glacier to the advanced base under the North col.
Afterwards all the preliminary arrangements will be reported, and
finally there will be an account of the great attempt to reach the
summit.
The Expedition will be starting nearly two months earlier than in 1921.
The weather in May and June, before the monsoon breaks in July,
apparently is more or less settled, and so the most must be made of it.
In 1921 from the end of July till September high climbing was
impossible. It is therefore obvious that a determined attempt to climb
Mount Everest should be made before the monsoon sets in.
The ascent from the North col, Changa La, 23,000 feet, to the summit of
Mount Everest, 29,000 feet, is only 6,000 feet, and the distance to
traverse is about 2 miles. As far as can be judged from the numerous
photographs of Mount Everest, the climbing is straightforward with no
insurmountable difficulties in the form of steep rock precipices. There
will be no glaciers overhanging the route which might send down
avalanches, and no excessively steep ice-slopes.
[Illustration: MOUNT EVEREST AT SUNSET from the 20,000 foot camp, Kharta
Valley.]
But the final ascent will test the endurance of the climbers to the
utmost. Many people have found the last 1,000 feet of Mont Blanc more
than they could accomplish. The last 1,000 feet of Mount Everest will
only be conquered by men whose physique is perfect, and who are trained
and acclimatised to the last possible limit, and who have the
determination to struggle on when every fibre of their body is calling
out--Hold! enough!
The struggle will be a great one, but it will be worth the while. To do
some new thing beyond anything that has been previously accomplished,
and not to be dominated by his environment, has made man what he is, and
has raised him above the beasts. He always has been seeking new worlds
to conquer. He has penetrated into the forbidding ice-worlds at the two
poles, and many are the secrets he has wrested from Nature. There
remains yet the highest spot on the world's surface. No doubt he will
win there also, and in the winning will add one more victory over the
guarded secrets of things as they are.
APPENDIX I
THE SURVEY
BY MAJOR H. T. MORSHEAD, D.S.O.
The personnel selected to form the Survey Detachment under my charge
were as follows: Brevet-Major E. O. Wheeler, M.C., R.E., Mr. Lalbir
Singh Thapa, Surveyors Gujjar Singh and Turubaz Khan, Photographer Abdul
Jalil Khan, sixteen khalasis, etc.
The tasks allotted to the detachment were:--
(1) A general survey of the whole unmapped area covered by the
Expedition, on a scale of 1 inch to 4 miles.
(2) A detailed survey of the immediate environs of Mount Everest on the
scale of 1 inch to 1 mile.
(3) A complete revision of the existing 1/4-inch map of Sikkim.
With the exception of a few rough notes and sketches by early travellers
and missionaries in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, our first
knowledge of the Southern portion of the Tibetan province of Tsang dated
from the epoch of the Survey of India by trained native explorers in the
middle of the nineteenth century. Thus, much of the area visited by the
Expedition in 1921 was traversed by the explorer Hari Ram during the
course of his two journeys in 1871-2 and 1885 respectively. At that
time, however, foreign surveyors were not regarded with favour in Tibet;
work could only be carried on surreptitiously, and the resulting map
merely consisted of a small-scale route traverse which gave no
indication of the surface features beyond the explorer's actual route.
The first rigorous survey undertaken in the neighbourhood was that
carried out by Captain C. H. D. Ryder, R.E. (now Colonel Ryder, C.I.E.,
D.S.O., Surveyor-General of India), during the Tibet Mission of
1903-1904. During the stay of the Mission at Kampa, the 1/4-inch survey
was carried as far West as longitude 88 deg.; while, on the subsequent
return march up the Tsangpo Valley, surveys were extended as far as the
Southern watershed of the great river--the so-called Ladak Range--in
latitude 29 deg. approximately.
West of longitude 88 deg. there thus remained a stretch of unsurveyed
country some 14,000 square miles in area, between the Ladak Range on the
North and the Great Himalaya Range on the South--the latter forming the
Northern frontier of Nepal. The Mount Everest Expedition provided an
opportunity of making good the whole of this area, with the exception of
some 2,000 square miles at the extreme Western end, into which, in view
of the restrictions of the Indian Foreign Department, I did not feel
justified in penetrating.
Fortunately, Colonel Bury's plans contemplated an outward Northerly
journey via Shekar and Tingri to the Western flanks of Mount Everest,
whence the reconnaissance of the mountain was to be carried out from
West to East, parallel to the Northern frontier of Nepal. This rendered
feasible the mapping of the whole unsurveyed area between the Southern
watershed of the Tsangpo and the Great Himalaya Range, as far West as
longitude 85 deg. 30', without in any way infringing the Foreign
Department's orders and restrictions.
For the purpose of the detailed survey of the Mount Everest regions, it
was arranged for my Assistant, Major Wheeler, to make a thorough test of
the Canadian pattern of photo-survey apparatus, of which he had had
previous experience in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. This method of
survey, which had not hitherto been employed in India, is particularly
adapted for use in high mountain regions. Fortunately, the experimental
outfit, which had recently been ordered from England, was delivered just
in time to accompany the Expedition. Wheeler's account of his season's
work will be found in Appendix II.
With a view to carrying out the revision survey of Sikkim while awaiting
the arrival of the members of the Expedition from England, the Survey
Detachment was authorised to assemble at Darjeeling early in April, six
weeks before the date fixed for the start of the Expedition. In spite of
an unusually wet and cloudy spring, the three surveyors made such good
use of their time that 2,500 square miles of country were completed
before the advance of the Expedition necessitated the temporary
abandonment of this work.
After completing the necessary preliminaries with Colonel Bury, I myself
left Darjeeling on May 13, intending to rejoin the remainder of the
Expedition in Sikkim. Continuous rain, however, rendered the latter task
impossible; the Sikkim roads were, moreover, blocked in several places
by severe landslips, so that I was only with difficulty able to reach
Kampa by the 28th. It transpired, however, that there was no cause for
hurry, since the main body of the Expedition, travelling via the Chumbi
Valley, had encountered greater difficulties than mine, and did not
arrive at Kampa until June 5. While awaiting their arrival, I filled in
the time by occupying and re-observing from Colonel Ryder's old
triangulation stations of 1903, overlooking the Kampa Plain.
I had received no news whatever of the Expedition or of the outside
world since leaving Darjeeling three-and-a-half weeks previously.
Consequently the death of my old friend Dr. Kellas on the very day of
their arrival at Kampa came to me as a very severe shock.
The Sikkim revision-survey having been so much hampered by bad weather,
I decided to take only two of the three surveyors with the Expedition
into Tibet, leaving Surveyor Turabaz Khan to complete the comparatively
dry areas of Northern Sikkim before the arrival of the monsoon. This he
succeeded in doing at the cost of considerable personal discomfort,
returning to Darjeeling in July.
It was not until we reached the summit of the Tinki Pass on June 11 that
we found ourselves for the first time looking into unsurveyed country.
From here onwards as far as Tingri the survey was kept up by Lalbir
Singh, whose unflagging energy alone enabled him to keep pace with the
long marches of the Expedition. Each morning he was away with his
plane-table and squad of coolies long before our breakfast was served,
seldom reaching camp before nightfall. The gathering clouds and other
ominous signs of a rapidly approaching monsoon, however, forbade any
respite.
On arrival at Tingri, after spending a week in fruitless efforts to
observe the triangulated peaks of the main Himalayan Range through the
dense monsoon clouds which were daily piling up more and more thickly
from the South, I departed on June 26 with Surveyor Gujjar Singh on a
short trip to explore and map the upper valley of the Bhong Chu.
Our first march led across the wide Tingri Plain, past the hot spring
village of Tsamda, to the hamlet of Dokcho, at the Southern extremity of
the Sutso Plain. This plain is covered with the ruins of numerous
villages and watch-towers, the haunt of countless rock-pigeons. They are
all of loftier and more substantial construction than the miserable
hovels which form the scattered hamlets of to-day--indicating,
apparently, the former presence of a large and warlike population. It is
impossible even to hazard a guess at the age of these ruins, which may
have preserved their present state for generations in the comparatively
arid climate of Tibet. Many of the towers are 60 feet or more in height;
roofs and floors have all disappeared, but the massive mud walls in
many instances still bear the marks of the wooden shuttering used in
their erection. This method of construction is unknown, I believe, in
Tibet at the present day.
The next day's march, skirting the Western edge of the plain, brought us
to the village of Phuri, where the river flows in a flat-bottomed,
cultivated valley, between bare brown hills. On the 28th we camped at
Menkhap-to, the highest village in the valley. The headman, a sort of
local "warden of the marches," refused to see me and shut himself up in
his house, guarding his door with three huge mastiffs who effectively
frustrated the efforts of my messengers to establish communications.
Evidently he feared the subsequent results to himself of harbouring
strangers. The remaining villagers were quite friendly, however, and
supplied all my requirements. One man, the owner of a gun, surprised me
by a request for 12-bore cartridges just after I had greatly shocked his
neighbour's Buddhist susceptibilities by killing a butterfly for my
collection! Much snow is reported to fall at Menkhap-to, which is
deserted during the winter months, when the inhabitants descend to
Menkhap-me ("lower Menkhap") and the Sutso Plain.
Above Menkhap-to the road leaves the main valley and proceeds Westwards
over a spur known as the Lungchen La (17,700 feet). This spur commands
an extensive view across the wide, uninhabited Pekhu Plain, with its
three lakes, as far as the snowy range running North-west from the
summit of Gosainthan. On a fine day, the whole panorama can be sketched
in from a couple of fixings on either side of the pass; unfortunately,
at the time of our arrival bad weather had set in, and the whole
snow-range was hidden in cloud. I had therefore to leave Gujjar Singh
camped near the summit of the pass to await a fine day for the
completion of his surveys, and myself returned at the end of the month
to Tingri, where I rejoined Mr. Wollaston, who had been detained at
headquarters by an outbreak of enteric fever amongst the Expedition
servants.
Wild game is plentiful in the Upper Bhong Valley. I shot numerous hares,
some ramchakor and a bar-headed goose during the trip; while Gujjar
Singh caught a young, week-old burhel lamb on the summit of the Lungchen
Pass, which, however, died after three weeks in captivity. Gazelle are
common on the Sutso Plain.
By the end of June, Lalbir Singh had finished the inking of his previous
surveys, and was ready for fresh work. Accordingly, after spending a
couple of days in examining his board, and checking the spelling of his
village names with the aid of the local Tibetan officials, I despatched
him on a lengthy programme of work in Pharuk and Kharta. It was three
months before I saw him again.
About this time a messenger arrived from the Dzongpen of Nyenyam,
inviting us to visit his district, which lay four marches to the
Southwest, in the valley of the Po Chu or Bhotia Kosi R. Although
Nyenyam was not one of the districts specifically mentioned in our
passport, Wollaston and I decided, with the concurrence of Colonel Bury,
to avail ourselves of the opportunity of visiting this little-known
area.
Leaving Tingri on July 13, with the interpreter Gyalzen Kazi and
Surveyor Gujjar Singh, who had now returned after completing his work on
the Lungchen Pass, we camped that evening at Langkor, a small village at
the Western edge of the Tingri Plain. A cantilever bridge which spans
the Gya Chu opposite the village had been carried away by floods shortly
before our arrival, and the whole population of the hamlet, male and
female, were busily engaged in its reconstruction, working in relays to
the accompaniment of prolonged and vigorous blasts on a "conch" which a
monk was diligently blowing in order--as it was explained to us--to
avert further rainfall until the bridge should be completed. His efforts
were rewarded with tolerable success, as the rain held off all day in
spite of the threatening storm-clouds which loomed up from the
South-west.
The most interesting feature of Langkor is an ancient temple, an
appanage of the great Drophung monastery of Lhasa. This building, which
is said to be over 1,000 years old, contains a sacred stone alleged to
have been hurled across the Himalayan Range from India, and to have
pitched in the Tingri Plains. The name Tingri is said to be derived from
the noise ("ting") made by the falling stone. The stone is carefully
preserved inside a wooden box, which is opened with much ceremony on the
first day of the Tibetan new year. The temple, which is managed by a
committee of fifteen civilian monks (nyakchang), also contains a library
of 4,400 books, and an image of the Indian saint Tamba Sanye which is
popularly believed to have grown by itself from the ground _in situ_.
Crossing the Tang La (17,980 feet) in a driving snowstorm, a long march
of 22 miles brought us next day to the bleak village of Tulung, in the
upper valley of the Po Chu. As we descended the Western side of the pass
the snow-clouds gradually dispersed, disclosing glimpses of the
magnificent twin summits of Gosainthan (26,290 feet), 30 miles to the
West. Several of our coolies succumbed to mountain sickness on the pass,
with the result that my bedding and the kitchen box only reached camp at
9 p.m.
On July 15 our road lay for 8 miles along the flat valley of the Po Chu;
the river then turns sharply Southwards, passing for 3 miles through a
gorge of granite and schist. Bushes of wild currant, gooseberry,
berberis and dog-rose here begin to appear, and around the village of
Targyeling, where we camped, were smiling fields of mustard and
buckwheat, in addition to the usual Tibetan crops of barley and dwarf
pea. After a month spent in the bleak Tibetan uplands, it was a relief
to pitch our tents in a homely green field, alongside a rippling brook
lined with familiar ranunculus, cow parsley, forget-me-not, and a
singularly beautiful pale mauve cranesbill, and to feast our eyes on the
glorious purple of the wild thyme which clothed the hillsides in great
patches of colour.
The next day, still following the course of the Po Chu, we reached
Nyenyam, a large and very insanitary village which is known under the
name of Kuti by the Nepalis who constitute the majority of its
inhabitants. These Nepali traders (Newars) have their own Hindu temple
in the village. There is also a Nepalese chauki (court-house) with a
haqim (magistrate) invested with summary powers of jurisdiction over
Nepali subjects; he is specially charged with the settlement of trade
disputes, and with the encouragement of Tibeto-Nepalese trade and
commerce.
As is customary in all important districts of Tibet, there are here two
Dzongpens, who by a polite fiction are known as "Eastern" and "Western"
(Dzongshar and Dzongnup) respectively. Actually, the functions of the
two Dzongpens are identical; the _raison d'etre_ of the double regime
being an attempt to protect the peasants from extortion by the device of
providing two administrators, who, in theory at least, act as a check
upon each other's peculations. At the time of our arrival, those two
worthies were so busy preparing a joint picnic that we had considerable
difficulty in getting their attention.
I spent three days in exploring the neighbourhood of Nyenyam, while
Wollaston was engaged in his botanical and zoological pursuits. Gujjar
Singh, with the plane-table, was detained by bad weather higher up the
valley. Below Nyenyam the river enters a very deep, narrow gorge; pines
and other forest trees begin to appear. The road, which here becomes
impassable for animals, crosses the river four times in 6 miles by
cantilever bridges before reaching the village of Choksum, but I could
find no trace of the portion described by explorer Hari Ram in 1871 as
consisting of slabs of stone 9 to 18 inches wide supported on iron pegs
let into the vertical face of the rock at a height of 1,500 feet above
the river. At Choksum (10,500 feet) the river falls at an average rate
of 500 feet per mile. The Nepal frontier is crossed near Dram village,
some 10 miles further down stream, but owing to the vile state of the
weather, which rendered even the roughest attempts at surveying
impossible, I abandoned all idea of reaching the spot.
On July 20 we retraced our steps 9 miles up the valley to Tashishong,
where we found Dr. Heron encamped, together with Gujjar Singh, whose
work had been hung up for a week by continued cloud and rainfall. Heron
returned Northwards next day, while we followed a rough easterly track
leading over the Lapche Range to the village of the same name in the
valley of the Kang Chu. The weather on this day was atrocious, and our
last pretence of accurate surveying broke down. We were unable to reach
Lapche village by dusk, and spent a somewhat cheerless night on boulders
in drenching rain at 14,600 feet, with no fuel except a few green twigs
of dwarf rhododendron.
Lapche (La-Rimpoche, "precious hill") is sacred as the home and
birthplace of Jetsun Mila Repa, a wandering lama and saint who lived in
Southern Tibet in the eleventh century, and who taught by parables and
songs, some of which have considerable literary merit. The two principal
works ascribed to him are an autobiography, or namtar, and a collection
of tracts called Labum, or the "myriad songs." They are still among the
most popular books in Tibet.[20] His hermit-cell still remains under a
rock on the hillside, and his memory is preserved by an ancient temple
and monastery, the resort of numerous pilgrims, alongside which we
pitched our tents.
[20] _Journey to Lhasa and Central Tibet_, by S. C. Dass, C.I.E., page
205, footnote by Hon. W. W. Rockhill.
Lapche village is situated on a spur overlooking the junction of two
branches of the Kang stream--the latter being a tributary of the
Rongshar River, which, in turn, joins the Bhotia Kosi River in Nepal.
The extreme dampness of the local climate is indicated by the trailing
streamers of lichen which festoon the trees, and by the pent roofs of
the buildings. The village contains some ten or twelve houses, of which
half are occupied by Tibetans and half by Nepalese subjects
(Sherpas)--each community having its own headman. The inhabitants were
very friendly and pleasant, and gave us a good deal of information. The
village is deserted during the winter months, when the whole population
migrates across the border into Nepal. The Tibetans pay no taxes to
Nepal during their half-yearly sojourn in the lower valley; conversely,
the Nepalis during their summer residence in Lapche are not subject to
Tibetan taxation or to the imposition of ulag (forced labour). The
Tibetans of Lapche pay their taxes in the form of butter direct to the
Lapche monastery, the head lama, or abbot, of which resides at Phuto
Gompa near Nyenyam. The Nepal frontier is some 10 miles below Lapche,
opposite the snow-peak of Karro Pumri. Katmandu can be reached in eight
days, but the track is bad and very little trade passes this way.
Transport arrangements necessitated a day's halt at Lapche, which was
fortunately enlivened by the timely arrival of a large parcel of letters
and newspapers, which Colonel Bury had thoughtfully sent after us from
Tingri--almost the last news of the outside world which we were to
receive for over two months.
From Lapche we proceeded to the Rongshar Valley, crossing the Kangchen
and Kangchung ("big snow" and "little snow") passes. Descending the hill
to Trintang village, where we camped on July 25, the clouds lifted
momentarily, disclosing an amazing view of the superb snow summit of
Gauri-Sankar towering magnificently above us just across the valley.
This mountain, which is called by the Tibetans Chomo Tsering, or Trashi
Tsering, is the westernmost of a group of five very sacred peaks known
collectively as Tsering Tse-nga ("Tsering five peaks"). Unfortunately,
owing to constant clouds, I was unable to identify with certainty the
remaining four peaks of Tingki Shalzang, Miyo Lobzang, Chopen Drinzang
and Tekar Drozang. Owing to the sacred nature of the Rongshar Valley,
the slaughtering of animals is strictly forbidden; the large flocks and
herds of the villagers are only sold for slaughter in the adjoining
districts of Tingri and Nepal, and we were only able to buy a sheep on
promising not to kill it until after quitting the valley.
Trintang village occupies a plateau 1,750 feet above the level of the
river; 1,400 feet below is the village of Tropde, to which the Trintang
residents all descend in winter. Rongshar Dzong, which is situated in
the lower village, has no importance; at the time of our visit the
Dzongpen had gone to his home on leave of absence, leaving his affairs
in the hands of a steward.
A day's halt being necessary in order to collect transport, I took the
opportunity of descending the Rongshar Valley as far as the Nepal
frontier, while Gujjar Singh endeavoured, without much success, to pick
up the threads of his survey by identifying the snowy peaks which
occasionally afforded brief glimpses through rifts in the clouds. The
Rongshar River drops 1,400 feet in 7 miles between Tropde and the Nepal
frontier, which is crossed at an altitude of roughly 9,000 feet.
On July 27 we marched 20 miles up the Rongshar Valley to the village of
Tazang (Takpa-Santsam, "limit of birch trees"), which, as its name
implies, is situated at the extreme upper limit of the forest zone. On
the way we passed the village and monastery of Chuphar, whence a track
leads South-east over the difficult snow-pass of Menlung ("vale of
medicinal herbs") to the villages of Rowaling and Tangpa in the Kangphu
Valley of Nepal.
Tazang had already been visited by Colonel Bury, a month previously. The
local headman was too drunk, on the evening of our arrival, to send out
the necessary messages summoning the village transport-yaks from their
grazing grounds. In consequence, our baggage was only got under weigh at
11 a.m. next morning, and we were compelled to pitch our tents at a
grazing camp (16,500 feet) after only covering 9 miles. The weather
showed signs of improvement in proportion as we receded from the
Himalayan gorges, but dense banks of cloud still obscured all the
hill-tops. An easy march over the Phuse La (17,850 feet) brought us on
the 29th to the bleak village of Kyetrak, situated at the foot of the
great Kyetrak Glacier, on the extreme Southern edge of the Tingri
plain--an area which we had already surveyed six weeks previously.
From Kyetrak we proceeded via the Lamna La to Choebuk, thence following
the tracks of the Expedition headquarters which Colonel Bury had just
transferred from Tingri to Kharta in the lower Bhong Chu Valley. On
reaching headquarters on August 2, we found Colonel Bury in sole
occupation--Mallory and Bullock having left that very morning on a
reconnaissance of the Eastern approaches to Mount Everest.
The weather during the whole of August was such as to render out-of-door
survey operations impossible. Gujjar Singh was occupied during the month
in adjusting and inking his surveys, while I filled in several days in
making tracings of all work so far completed, after which, for the
remainder of the season, I joined the mountaineers, whose doings are
recorded elsewhere in this book.
On the return journey in October I despatched Gujjar Singh from Gyangkar
Nangpa to complete the remaining portions of the Sikkim revision-survey;
at the same spot I picked up Lalbir Singh, who, after completing his
survey of the Pharuk and Kharta areas, had crossed the Bhong Chu below
Lungdoe and worked his way back via Tashirakar and Sar. Travelling via
Kampa and Lachen Valley, we reached Darjeeling on October 16. Tracings
of the new survey were hastily finished and sent to press, with the
result that a complete preliminary 1/4-inch map in six colours was
published before the last members of the Expedition had sailed for
England. A 1/2-inch preliminary sketch-map of the environs of Mount
Everest was also prepared by Major Wheeler at the same time for the use
of the mountaineers in discussing the details of their next year's
climb.
The out-turn of work during the Expedition was as follows:--
1/4-inch revision survey 4,000 square miles
1/4-inch original survey 12,000 square miles
Detail photo-survey (environs of Mount Everest) 600 square miles
The surveyors all worked splendidly under difficult and trying
conditions. Major Wheeler had probably the hardest time of any member of
the Expedition, and his success in achieving single-handed the mapping
of 600 square miles of some of the most mountainous country in the world
is sufficient proof of his determination and grit. It is difficult for
those who have not actually had the experience to conceive the degree of
mental and physical discomfort which results to the surveyor from
prolonged camping at high altitudes during the monsoon, waiting for the
fine day which never comes. Such was our fate for four months during the
Expedition of 1921, yet on looking back one feels that the results were
well worth while. The discomforts soon fade from recollection; the
pleasures alone remain in one's memory, and there is not one of us but
would gladly repeat our season's experiences, if so required.
APPENDIX II
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC SURVEY
BY MAJOR E. O. WHEELER, M.C.
I had purchased a set of photo-topographical surveying instruments of
the Canadian pattern, on behalf of the Survey of India, while on leave
in 1920. A trial of this method of surveying mountainous country was to
be carried out in Garhwal in 1921; but when Survey of India officers
were asked for to accompany the Mount Everest Expedition, I was detailed
to carry out the trial there. Possibly a word of explanation of the
method used may not be amiss.
The "Canadian" method--if I may call it so; for although it was invented
and has been used elsewhere, it has been far more extensively applied in
Canada than in any other part of the world--may be briefly described as
"plane-tabling by photography." It requires, equally with the
plane-table, an accurate framework, on which to base the detailed
survey; and simply substitutes a small (3-inch vernier) theodolite and
camera for the sight-rule and plane-table. Stations are fixed and
photographs oriented by means of the theodolite; the photographs, which
are taken so as to be as nearly as possible true perspectives, represent
the country as it would be seen by the plane-tabler, and detail on them
may be fixed by intersections or sketched in by eye in exactly the same
way as on the plane-table.
Angles are read and photographs taken in the field; and, if considered
necessary to test exposures or protect photographic plates from
deterioration due to climatic conditions, development of plates is also
carried out there. Otherwise, the map is made wholly in the office,
using either contact prints or enlargements, from the negatives taken in
the field. The latter are usually preferable. The main advantages at
high altitudes over the plane-table are, that a much larger area can be
covered in a given time in the field, that the instruments are more
portable for difficult climbing, that there is no necessity to do
accurate drawing with numbed fingers, and that the draughtsman may see
the country from several points of view at one time. On the other hand,
more equipment is necessary, and--a great disadvantage sometimes, as in
this case--the map does not come into being as one goes along.
After carrying out various preliminary adjustments and tests at the
office of the Trigonometrical Survey at Dehra Dun, I reached Darjeeling
on April 30, and Tingri on June 19, travelling with Expedition
Headquarters via Ph[=a]ri Dzong.
_En route_ Tingri, we had caught glimpses of Everest and the
neighbouring peaks; so that by the time we arrived there, I was able,
with the help of the existing maps and what local information we had
obtained, to decide on the area I would attempt to survey. I say
"attempt," for little was really known then about the geography, and
still less about the weather conditions throughout the summer. As it
turned out in the end, the area had to be much curtailed, and certain
parts surveyed in considerably less detail than I should have liked:
almost wholly on account of the weather. Although it was often fairly
clear at 6 a.m. or so, photographs taken before 8, particularly at the
latter end of the season, were of little use for surveying purposes.
However, at the outset, I had hoped to map, on the scale of 1 inch = 1
mile, the whole area between the Arun Gorge on the East and the R[=a]
Chu on the West: and from the Nep[=a]l-Tibet boundary Northwards for
some 20 miles; i.e. to the point where the various streams, flowing in a
Northerly direction from the high boundary ridge, issue from the
mountains proper into the more rolling foot-hills on the Southern
outskirts of the Tibetan Plateau. This area includes Mount Everest
itself near the centre of its Southern side, Mak[=a]lu and Pk. 25,413 to
the South-east, Pks. 23,800 (Kh[=a]rtaphu), 23,420, and 23,080 to the
North-east and North, and Pks. 25,990 (Gy[=a]chung Kang), 25,202, 25,909
and 26,867 (Cho Oyu) to the North-west; and comprises some 1,000 square
miles of country: a suitable season's work, given reasonably fine
weather. This unfortunately we did not get.
On June 24, the day after Messrs. Mallory and Bullock had started for
the Rongbuk Valley, Dr. Heron and I marched South across the plain to
the village of Sharto, _en route_ Kyetr[=a]k, in the R[=a] Chu Valley,
where I intended to establish my base camp while surveying the
Kyetr[=a]k Glacier and West face of the Cho Oyu--Gyachung K[=a]ng group.
The next day we moved on to Kyetr[=a]k, 1 mile below the snout of the
glacier, and made camp there. This bleak village and the route to it and
over the Phuese La have already been described.
June 26 was fine, so after crossing the R[=a] Chu on local ponies,
ourselves and our ice-axes and rucksacks perched on Tibetan saddles--a
cold and uncomfortable proceeding in the early morning--we ascended the
18,000-foot hill immediately West of the village. Up to 1 p.m. we had
excellent views across and up the Kyetr[=a]k Valley; but only a glimpse
of Gauri Sankar (Chomo Tsering) to the South-west, where heavy clouds
soon began to roll up. Cho Oyu and Pk. 25,909 and their spurs
unfortunately cut out all distant views to the South-east, as they did
everywhere in the upper part of this valley; so that my first view of
Everest was from Tingri a month later. Next day, we started shortly
after daylight for a spur on the East side of the valley;
unfortunately--and this happened in the case of almost every peak I
started for until mid-September--clouds began to roll up, and we were
forced to stop to take the photographs before we had reached a really
good view-point.
Colonel Bury arrived at Kyetr[=a]k shortly after we got back to camp. On
the 28th he and Heron started off early for a flying visit to the
Kyetr[=a]k Glacier and Nangba La; I started later, after getting kit
together, for a camp half-way up the glacier, and about 6 miles from
Kyetr[=a]k. About 2 p.m. I found a comparatively dry spot on shale at
18,000 feet, and pitched my tents there, the last of the coolies
arriving only at 6 p.m. The place was bleak enough, but was as far as I
could get that day, and seemed suitable for two climbs--one on either
side of the glacier.
My equipment consisted of the camera, theodolite, and a small
plane-table--to help in identifying triangulated points--by way of
instruments, which were carried by three coolies who remained with me.
Ten other coolies slept at the base camp at Kyetr[=a]k, and carried
stores up to me or moved the camp, as required; the camp consisted of a
Whymper tent for the three coolies and a Meade for myself; bedding,
food, a Primus stove and tin of kerosene for my own cooking, and yak
dung fuel for the coolies. My servant remained at the base camp and sent
up cooked meat and vegetables; otherwise I cooked for myself.
June 29 and 30 were useless days; but on July 1 the weather cleared a
bit, and after crossing the glacier, I went up a sharp rock shoulder of
Cho Rapzang. The peak was mainly loose granite blocks at a steep angle,
so that progress was slow: it was noon when I reached the top (about
19,500 feet), and as I did so the clouds settled down, and it began to
snow. However, at 4 p.m. it cleared sufficiently for some work to be
done; after that we came down as quickly as possible in another
blinding snowstorm, and reached camp just after dark; I for one very
tired. I found the coolies exceedingly slow in coming down the loose
blocks, I think because their balance was bad--they had to use their
hands far more than I did.
I had a good view of the glacier from here: the East side is very steep
and broken, with several tributary glaciers flowing down from Cho Oyu
and Pk. 25,909, and from a 23,000-foot Peak (not triangulated) to the
North of the latter. The West side, except for Cho Rapzang, round which
the glacier flows, is a snowfield falling more or less gently from a low
ridge running from the pass to the West of Cho Rapzang. The glacier
itself is like many others in this region, moraine covered for 3 or 4
miles above its snout, "pinnacled" for another mile, and finally
practically flat. But this flat portion gives by no means good going;
when frozen it is very irregular and trying to walk over; and when
thawed, is slushy and water soaked. There are two large water channels
in the ice which are unpleasant to cross; these are from 10 to 15 feet
wide and 20 feet deep, and carry a large volume of water in the
afternoon. Crossing without a rope is distinctly dangerous, for although
one can find places easy enough to jump, a slip would be certain death,
for once in the channel it would be quite impossible to get out, or even
to stop oneself on its smooth ice floor and sides.
Cloudy weather then set in; but on the 3rd I got a few photographs from
a shoulder near by, and moved camp 2 or 3 miles farther up the glacier
(at about 18,500 feet). I was in this camp for nine days and only
succeeded in taking two low stations, one on either side of the glacier
and each about 11/2 miles from the pass (Nangba La) to Nep[=a]l; but the
valley on the South side, leading down to Khungphu, turns sharply to the
East just below the pass, and little could be seen of the Nepalese side.
Each of these stations I went up twice--to wait all day long the first
time, in each case, for weather which never came. To reach the station
on the East side of the glacier I had the only comparatively difficult
rock climbing which I met with during the course of the Expedition; and
on the way down watched my theodolite coolie, whom I had left behind
exhausted in the morning, tumble off a steep rock arete, theodolite and
all; fortunately he jammed in a crack a few feet below, and was unhurt.
During the day he had started up after us on his own, and had lost his
way in the clouds.
On July 12--another wet day--I moved camp some distance down the main
glacier and up a tributary flowing from Pk. 25,909 and Cho Oyu, and next
day ascended a shoulder whence a good view into the cirque below these
two peaks was obtained--or should have been obtained! But again I sat
till dusk and saw little or nothing. Early the following day, however,
it was fairly clear, so I got my photographs and then moved camp back to
the base at Kyetr[=a]k.
The next three days were spent in moving my base camp to the bridge
across the R[=a] Chu, 6 miles below Kyetr[=a]k; taking a light camp up
to about 18,000 feet on the prominent hill immediately East of the
bridge, climbing the latter, sitting through the usual storms without
doing any work, and returning to the bridge. Time was getting on, and
the weather was still bad, so I then decided to leave my camp at the
bridge and move into Headquarters myself to get developing, etc., up to
date, and have a short rest. I walked into Tingri, with two coolies, on
July 18, and found Colonel Bury there alone: and the Headquarters house
felt very comfortable indeed after a Meade tent, in spite of nightly
pilgrimages from one dry spot to another, as the roof leaked!
Five busy days were spent at Tingri developing and printing; and as the
weather showed little sign of improvement, I decided to go on with
Headquarters to Choebuk, in the Rongbuk Valley and work on that side, so
as to make sure of completing the most important part, in the vicinity
of Everest, and return to the Kyetr[=a]k Valley if there should be time.
So on the 24th Colonel Bury and I left Tingri and reached Choebuk on the
25th, where we met Mallory and Bullock, just in from their
reconnaissance of the North and North-west sides of Everest. A talk with
them gave me some idea of the country, and the view from an 18,000-foot
hill above Choebuk enabled me to make a plan of campaign: far more
extensive, as always, than the weather eventually allowed.
Colonel Bury, Mallory and Bullock had gone on to Kh[=a]rta on July 26;
on the 27th I moved up the right bank of the Rongbuk Valley some 10
miles, to the monastery, above which I took a 20,000-foot station the
next day. The weather was dreadful, but at 6 p.m. I got a round of
photographs, which really turned out very well considering the time of
day at which they were taken: it took me four and a half hours to get up
this peak--fresh snow and scree--and although I had no glissades, only
half an hour to come down.
On the 27th I moved camp to a grassy hollow near the snout of the
glacier--Mallory and Bullock's base--and next day occupied another hill
overlooking the main glacier and valley, and looking up the side valley
on the East, which joins the Dz[=a]kar Chu just below the glacier snout.
The next three days were spent in establishing a light camp on the left
bank of the East branch of the Rongbuk Glacier, about 3 miles from its
snout, and taking a station on its left bank to overlook both the East
and main glaciers.
The Rongbuk Glacier is made up of two large branches, one flowing from
the snow basin immediately below the great North wall of Everest, and
the other, the "West Rongbuk" which joins the main stream about 4 miles
above the snout of the glacier, flowing East in the basin between the
high North-west ridge of Everest and the South-east slopes of Pk. 25,990
(Gy[=a]chung Kang). At one time there was a third branch, the "East
Rongbuk," which must have also joined the main stream, but this has
receded until its snout is now a mile or more East of the main glacier,
and only its torrent pours into a large cave in the latter. The East
Rongbuk itself consists of two branches: one, the more southerly, flows
from the great snow basin (which we eventually crossed to reach the
North Col) between Everest, its North Peak and Col, and Pk. 23,800
(Kh[=a]rtaphu); and the other, which joins the South branch about 2
miles from its snout, from between Pks. 23,800 and 23,420. The former
gives a 20,000-foot pass, very steep on the South side, to the K[=a]ma
Valley; and the latter, an easy pass of about the same height to the
head of one branch of the Kh[=a]rta Valley.
I camped, at about 19,500 feet, on the moraine-covered glacier opposite
the junction of the northerly branch from Pks. 23,800 and 23,420. On the
way up I followed the watercourse between the ice of the Main Rongbuk
Glacier and the scree and conglomerate slopes to the East of it, as far
as the mouth of the East Rongbuk stream (3 miles), which gave good
though boulder-strewn going. Thence a short scramble up "cut-bank" on
the right bank of the East Rongbuk stream to the shelf of an old lateral
moraine of that glacier, and along the latter--excellent going--to near
its snout. The stream is pretty big in the evening; but quite easy to
cross--except for iced rocks--in the early morning: and from there I
followed up a series of lateral moraines on the left bank, to my camp.
It was not till I was coming down that I discovered that the
moraine-covered glacier itself--here covered with shale instead of
boulders and scree as in the case of the main glacier--gave comfortable
walking.
A little distance below my camp site, the moraine-covered snout gives
place to pinnacled ice, divided into three sections by two broad, shaly
medial moraines. Either of the latter would be very suitable for a camp,
and would give an excellent route to our 21,500-foot camp below the
Chang La. The latter might, I think, be reached by this route in three
days from the base camp at the snout of the main glacier, camping the
first night at 19,000 feet at the start of the medial moraine, the
second at 20,000 feet on the medial moraine some 2 miles above the
junction of the Northern and Southern branches of the East Rongbuk, and
the third night on snow at 21,500 feet below the North Col. The better
moraine to ascend would require reconnaissance; for the pinnacles
between them are difficult and slow to cross. The valley sides are steep
in the lower reaches of the glacier, but more shaly and gentle on both
branches, above their junction.
August 3 broke clear; and I started up a likely looking peak behind
(South of) camp, which appeared to be on the ridge between the East and
main glaciers. I afterwards found that this was not the case; at the
time I had to stop on a lower point as the clouds settled down. From
here I had a glimpse of a big peak--Mak[=a]lu, I thought--over the pass
at the head of the southerly branch of the glacier: and this gave me the
idea that there must be a comparatively low pass from here to the
K[=a]ma Valley. But clouds prevented me seeing more and studying the
topography more carefully. There were heavy snowstorms on August 4 and
5, but the 6th looked better, and after four hours' most strenuous
step-cutting up and slithering down pinnacles, I crossed the glacier and
ascended a 21,000-foot station on the other side, from which I obtained
good, if cloudy, views of the East Rongbuk Glacier. Snow in the night
and a dull morning made me decide to abandon this area--I could get my
camp no farther up owing to having insufficient warm clothes to camp all
my coolies at this height--and I returned to the base camp, preparatory
to tackling the West side of the Rongbuk Valley. Six hours' easy going
took me to my base camp.
After two days' rest and office work, I crossed the glacier and put a
light camp at about 19,000 feet in a small hanging valley below the
"Finger," a black rock gendarme which is a very prominent landmark on
the left bank of the Rongbuk Valley. On August 11 it snowed heavily, and
I found my bed, in which I spent the day, very hard indeed--the camp
being pitched on large boulders on top of the moraine. On the 12th,
13th, and 14th, I started for the "Finger," the first time by the ridge
immediately above camp, which gave some nice climbing with the rocks
partly snow covered as they were, and the other two days, by a much
quicker but less interesting route up soft snow and scree. Each day the
clouds came down, and although I waited till nearly dark at about 20,500
feet on the ridge, it was not till the third day that I got a round of
indifferent photographs.
Time was getting on, so on the 15th I called my "Finger" station "good
enough" and moved camp up the left bank of the main glacier to a point
on the old lateral moraine, opposite the entrance of the stream from the
East Rongbuk; and the next day round the corner to the West, some
distance up the West Rongbuk Glacier, and about 1,000 feet above it. _En
route_, I tried to get some photographs from the high moraine at the
junction of the West with the main glacier; but again the weather
defeated me, and I got into camp--another uncomfortable one--soaked to
the skin.
I was in this camp for five days; most of them spent huddled under rocks
waiting for the clouds to lift. I had one beautiful day, my only one in
six weeks, and got some very nice photographs of Mount Everest and its
West ridge. It is surprising how a little good weather and the feeling
of having really done some work affects one's spirits!
On August 21 I moved back to my base camp at the glacier snout, again
trying for a station at the corner--and failing. I had not done nearly
as much as I wanted to do; but there seemed to be no end to the bad
weather, and only a month or a bit more remained in which to map the
whole of the East side of the mountain: and I had heard from Colonel
Bury that there would be a considerable amount of work on that side.
Originally, I had hoped not only to return to the bridge over the R[=a]
Chu to complete the work in the Kyetr[=a]k Valley, but also to take
several stations in the valleys running North from the 23,000-foot group
North of Everest. But again apart from shortage of time, the weather
made it out of the question, and I went through to Kh[=a]rta, via the
Doya La, arriving there on August 27.
The change in scenery immediately one crosses the Doya La is most
marked, both as regards rock and vegetation. The former--mostly
gneiss--is far more rugged and interesting, and there is infinitely more
of the latter. The Headquarters camp at Kh[=a]rta, in a little poplar
grove, was pleasant indeed after the bleak, uninteresting Rongbuk
Valley; and I thoroughly enjoyed my five days there, developing and
printing; busy days, but very different from lying on one's back on the
sharp boulders of the Rongbuk moraines. Mallory, Bullock and Morshead
were in Kh[=a]rta when I arrived; Colonel Bury and Wollaston returned
from their excursion to the Popti La soon after, and Raeburn arrived on
September 1. It was a great treat to me to be able to "swap lies" with
so many people, after two months almost wholly alone!
On September 3 Morshead and I started up the Kh[=a]rta Chu in the wake
of Mallory and Bullock, who had gone up to get the "bundobust" for the
final fling going. As usual, bad weather dogged my footsteps, and
although the weather while I was in Kh[=a]rta had been glorious,
Morshead and I spent seven days in taking two very indifferent stations
in the lower part of the Kh[=a]rta Valley, before joining the remainder
of the expedition at the "Advanced Base" on September 11. A further
eight days were spent there, waiting for the weather; but in that time I
was able to get two very useful stations, one on either side of the
valley.
On September 19 I moved up to "No. 1 Camp" with Mallory, Bullock and
Morshead; and shared the fortunes of the rest of the Expedition as far
as Kampa Dzong on the way back to Darjeeling, where Raeburn, Heron and I
left Headquarters to return to Darjeeling via L[=a]chen and the Teesta
Valley. I was delighted to get into the "final push," and enjoyed the
few days' change from surveying to climbing, enormously; except that I
felt the cold very much in my feet, and had it not been for Mallory's
good offices--he rubbed my feet for a solid hour after we came down from
Chang La--I feel sure that the result might have been much more serious
than the slight discomfort I afterwards experienced.
I took three stations in the neighbourhood of No. 1 Camp--one on either
side of the Kh[=a]rta Glacier, and one at 22,300 feet on the "Lhakpa
La." This was on snow, with my instrument resting on, and steadied by,
bags of "tsampa"; which proved to be a most excellent substitute for
rock!
On September 26 I crossed with Colonel Bury and Wollaston to the K[=a]ma
Valley; unfortunately, we only had two clear days there, and I had to
leave it without covering as much ground as I should have liked,
though--as usual--I spent my days in snowstorms, hoping for breaks in
the clouds.
The return to Darjeeling via the Serpo La, L[=a]chen, and the Teesta
Valley, made a pleasant change from the Ph[=a]ri route; but again bad
weather spoiled our views, and we saw nothing at all of Kanchenjunga
and its neighbours. Raeburn went in by the usual road via Gangtok; Heron
and I followed the river--an excellent route in spite of the prevalence
of leeches--and reached Pashok on October 19. Heron went on to
Darjeeling, a further 18 miles, the same day. I followed on the 20th.
I enjoyed the Expedition and my work with it, thoroughly; but in my
opinion, Tibet, at any rate that portion of it in which we were, is a
place to have _been_, rather than one to go to!
APPENDIX III
A NOTE ON THE GEOLOGICAL RESULTS OF THE EXPEDITION
BY A. M. HERON, D.Sc., F.G.S., Geological Survey of India.
The area geologically examined is somewhat over 8,000 square miles,
comprising the Tibetan portion of the Arun drainage area, with, in the
West, the headwaters of the Bhotia Kosi and its tributaries.
The circumstances of the Expedition were not favourable for work in any
detail, but an endeavour was made to traverse and map as large an area
as possible on a scale of 1/4-inch to the mile, on skeleton maps very
kindly furnished by Major Morshead and his surveyors as their
plane-tabling proceeded; my work must therefore be considered as a
geological reconnaissance pure and simple.
If I am accorded the privilege of accompanying the second Expedition, by
which time Major Wheeler's map on a scale of 1-inch to the mile will be
available, I hope to be able to make a detailed survey of the vicinity
of Mount Everest and investigate the complicated inter-relationships of
the metamorphosed sedimentaries and the associated gneisses and
granites.
My survey continues to the Westward Sir Henry Hayden's work during the
Tibet Expedition in 1903-4.
Geologically this area is divided into two broad divisions: (_a_)
Tibetan and sedimentary, (_b_) Himalayan and crystalline, a distinction
which is clearly displayed in the topography resulting from the
underlying geological structure, for to the North we have the somewhat
tame and lumpy mountains of Tibet contrasting with the higher, steeper
and more rugged Himalayas on the South.
The Tibetan zone consists of an intensely folded succession of shales
and limestones, with subordinate sandstone quartzites, the folds
striking East-West and mainly lying over towards the South, showing that
the movements which produced them came from the North.
The uppermost rocks consist of the Kampa system of Hayden, a great
thickness of limestones, which, where the rocks have escaped
alteration, yield an assemblage of fossils which determine their age as
Cretaceous and Eocene.
Below these is a monotonous succession of shales, practically
unfossiliferous, with occasional quartzites and limestones representing
the Upper and Middle Jurassic with at the base beds probably belonging
to the Lias.
These Jurassic shales are by far the most conspicuous formation in this
part of Tibet, being repeated many times in complicated folds.
The Cretaceous-Eocene limestones form comparatively narrow bands,
occurring as compressed synclines caught up in the folded complex of
Jurassic shales.
Along the Southern border of the Tibetan zone, below the base of the
Jurassic shales, is a great thickness (2,000 feet-3,000 feet) of thinly
bedded limestones in which the fossils have been destroyed and the rocks
themselves converted over considerable areas into crystalline limestones
and calc-gneisses containing tremolite, epidote, tourmaline, etc., but
still retaining their original bedded structure in the banding of the
altered rock.
The absence of determinable fossils makes it impossible to determine the
age of these with certainty, but from their lithological character and
position in the sequence, it is possible that they correspond with the
Tso Lhamo limestone in Sikkim (Lias) and the Kioto limestone of the
Zangskar range (Lower Jurassic and Upper Trias).
The Himalayan and crystalline zone is essentially composed of foliated
and banded biotite-gneiss, usually garnetiferous, on which lie, at
comparatively low angles and with a general Northerly dip, the
above-mentioned calc-gneisses.
These occur most abundantly to the North and West of Everest, in the
Keprak, Rongbu, Hlalung and Rebu Valleys. The group of high peaks to the
North-west of Everest (overlooking the Khombu Pass) is made up of these
and intrusive schorl granite, and it would seem that the precipitous
North-western face and spurs of Everest are the same.
The Eastern and North-eastern valleys, Chongphu, Kharta and Kama, which
are in general at a lower level than the North-western valleys, are
excavated in the biotite-gneiss. On the North-eastern face of Everest
fresh snow was too abundant at the time of my visit to make out what the
rocks were.
Associated with the limestones and calc-gneisses are quartzites and
tourmaline-biotite schists which probably represent the lowest portions
of the shales immediately overlying the limestones.
It is probable that the biotite-gneiss is an igneous rock intrusive in
the calc-gneisses and schists, but this and many other puzzling features
of the crystallines require more detailed study than I was able to give
this year.
Both biotite-gneiss and metamorphosed sedimentaries are crowded with
dykes and sills, of all dimensions, of schorl granite or pegmatite to
such an extent that this granite is frequently the predominant rock. It
is highly resistant to weathering and it is doubtless due to its
presence in large amount that such comparatively soft rocks as the
calc-gneisses take part in forming some of the highest summits.
In the same way the scattered peaks of over 20,000 feet on the watershed
between the Arun and the Tsangpo owe their prominence to their being
groups of veins of a very similar granite, differing in that it contains
biotite in place of schorl. Around these separate centres of intrusion
are areoles of metamorphism in which the Jurassic shales have been
converted into slates and phyllites.
Economically the area traversed by the Expedition is devoid of interest.
Barring a little copper staining on a few boulders on moraines no traces
of ore were seen.
APPENDIX IV
THE SCIENTIFIC EQUIPMENT
BY A. R. HINKS, F.R.S., Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society.
The most important scientific work of the first year's expedition should
have been the study of the physiological effects of high altitude that
Dr. Kellas had undertaken, with the support of Professor Haldane,
F.R.S., and of the Oxygen Research Committee of the Department of
Scientific and Industrial Research. In his work on Kamet in 1920,
Dr. Kellas had tried, and provisionally decided against, the use of
oxygen compressed in cylinders: but he laboured under the grave
disadvantage that the light cylinders he hoped to obtain had been, after
his departure for India, pronounced unsafe; and the cylinders sent out
were clearly too heavy for effective use in climbing. Dr. Kellas had
therefore fallen back on the use of oxygen prepared from the reaction
between water and oxylith in an apparatus which included a kind of gas
mask. He was prepared also to make several difficult researches into the
physiological processes of adaptation to low oxygen pressure; and some
delicate apparatus was prepared and sent out to him by the Oxygen
Research Committee. Unhappily these interesting and important enquiries
came to nought, for there was no one competent to carry them on after
his lamented death at Kampa Dzong; and the Expedition of 1922 was
thereby deprived of much information that should have been at its
disposal in studying the use of oxygen for the grand assault.
The scientific equipment for which the Mount Everest Committee were
directly responsible was not ambitious: the Survey of India were
responsible for the whole of the survey and brought their own equipment,
which is described elsewhere in this book. It was necessary to provide
the climbing party only with aneroids, compasses, reserve field-glasses,
thermometers and cameras, with subsidiary apparatus for checking the
aneroids at the base camps, and heavier cameras for work at lower
levels.
The aneroids by Cary, Porter & Co. and by Short & Mason were
constructed in pairs, to operate from 15,000 to 23,000, and 22,000 to
30,000 feet respectively. They seem to have performed well on the whole,
and tests made at the National Physical Laboratory since their return
show that they have changed very little; but it cannot be said that
their performances were very effectively controlled in the field, for
until late in the season there were no trigonometrical heights
available, and the climbers had little opportunity in their rather
isolated circumstances of employing their aneroids to the best
advantage, for purely differential work. Nor is there much to be said as
yet on the value of the shortened form of George mercurial barometer, to
come into action only at 15,000 feet (Cary, Porter & Co.). These
instruments will find effective use only in the second season, when the
reference points of the trigonometrical survey will be available as
fundamental data.
The climbers carried "Magnapole" compasses with luminous points, and
sometimes a Mark VIII prismatic; these all worked well. The simpler
compass is the more convenient for use on snow when goggles must be
worn. A luminous liquid compass (Short & Mason) was found very useful on
long reconnaissance rides.
For the record of temperatures in camps Messrs. Negretti & Zambra had
made three small pairs of maximum and minimum thermometers in leather
travelling cases. These suffered some casualties, by theft, or being
accidentally left out in the sun; and the pattern has been repeated for
the second year's work.
The heavier photographic equipment included an old and well-seasoned
71/2 x 5 Hare Camera, lent to the Expedition, but newly fitted by Messrs.
Dallmeyer with a Stigmatic lens of 9 inches focal length, a negative
telephoto lens of 4 inches focal length giving enlargement up to 6
times, and a set of Wratten filters. With this camera Mr. Wollaston
secured some of the finest pictures taken on the Expedition.
There were also two quarter-plate cameras for glass plates: a Sinclair
Una camera fitted by Messrs. Dallmeyer with a Stigmatic lens of 5.3
inches focal length, and Adon telephoto lens; and a second Sinclair
camera lent by Captain Noel.
One or the other of these two was used by Mr. Mallory at many of the
high camps, and both the Hare 71/2 x 5 and the Sinclair quarter-plate went
to the 22,500-foot camp at the Lhakpa La: doubtless the greatest height
yet attained by so large a camera as the former. The principal
difficulty with these cameras was unsteadiness in a heavy wind when the
telephoto lens was in use: and the tripods have been strengthened and
the lens supports stiffened before they go out again.
The plates were of two kinds: Imperial Special Rapid and Fine Grain
slow. The latter were generally preferred, and could hardly have been
better. The Imperial Dry Plate Company, who generously made and
presented these plates to the Expedition, deserve special thanks for
their skill and for their generosity.
The cameras which used films were a Panoram Kodak of 5 inches focal
length, with films 12 x 4 inches; a No. 1 Autograph Kodak, and two Vest
Pocket Kodaks, all three fitted with Cooke lenses by Messrs. Taylor,
Taylor & Hobson. The Panoram Kodak was used very successfully by Colonel
Howard-Bury, and the splendid series of panoramas is the most useful, if
not quite the most beautiful, set of photographs brought home. The
smaller cameras were used by the climbing party with many good results.
Finally it must be said that a large part of the best photographs were
taken by Colonel Howard-Bury with his own 7 x 5 Kodak, and the results
very generously placed at the disposal of the Committee.
All the instruments were examined and tested at the National Physical
Laboratory, and the thanks of the Committee are due to the Director and
his staff, who gave most valuable advice and assistance.
APPENDIX V
MAMMALS, BIRDS AND PLANTS COLLECTED BY THE EXPEDITION
BY A. F. R. WOLLASTON
A.--LIST OF MAMMALS COLLECTED
Stoat. _Mustela temon_
Stoat. _Mustela longstaffi_
Marmot. _Marmota himalayana_
Hamster. _Cricetulus alticola tibetanus_, subsp. n.
Vole. _Phaiomys leucurus_
Vole. _Phaiomys everesti_
Vole. _Microtus_ (_Alticola_), sp.
Pika. _Ochotona roylei nepalensis_
Pika. _Ochotona wollastoni_, sp. n.
Pika. _Ochotona curzoniae_
B.--LIST OF BIRDS COLLECTED
Central Asian blackbird. _Turdus maxima_
Solitary thrush. _Monticola solitarius_
White-breasted Asiatic dipper. _Cinclus cashmirensis_
Indian stone-chat. _Saxicola torquata indica_
Gould's desert chat. _Saxicola montana_
Bush chat. _Pratincola prjevalskii_
Indian redstart. _Ruticilla rufiventris_
Guldenstadt's Afghan redstart. _Ruticilla grandis_
White-capped redstart. _Chimarrhornis leucocephalus_
Hodgson's grandala. _Grandala c[oe]licolor_
Tickell's willow-warbler. _Phylloscopus affinis_
Mandelli's willow-warbler. _Phylloscopus mandellii_
Smoky willow-warbler. _Phylloscopus fulviventris_
Spotted bush-warbler. _Lusciniola thoracica_
Prince Henry's laughing thrush. _Trochalopterum henrici_
Eastern alpine accentor. _Accentor rufiliatus_
Red-breasted accentor. _Accentor rubeculoides_
Rufous-breasted accentor. _Accentor strophiatus_
Brown accentor. _Accentor fulvescens_
Sikkim black tit. _Parus beavani_
Wren. _Troglodytes_, sp.
Hodgson's pied wagtail. _Motacilla hodgsoni_
White-faced wagtail. _Motacilla leucopsis_
Yellow-headed wagtail. _Motacilla citreola._
Blyth's pipit. _Anthus citreola_
Indian tree-pipit. _Anthus maculatus_
Hodgson's pipit. _Anthus rosaceus_
Grey-backed shrike. _Lanius tephronotus_
Slaty-blue flycatcher. _Cyornis leucomelanurus_
Himalayan greenfinch. _Hypacanthis spinoides_
Tree-sparrow. _Passer montanus_
Cinnamon tree-sparrow. _Passer cinnamomeus_
Blanford's snow-finch. _Montifringilla blanfordi_
Adams' snow-finch. _Montifringilla adamsi._
Hodgson's ground-finch. _Fringilauda nemoricola_
Brandt's ground-linnet. _Leucosticte brandti._
Walton's twite. _Linota rufostrigata_
Red-breasted rose-finch. _Pyrrhospiza punicea_
Scarlet rose-finch. _Carpodacus erythrinus_
Hodgson's rose-finch. _Carpodacus pulcherrimus_
Severtzoff's rose-finch. _Carpodacus severtzoi_
Prejewalk's rose-finch. _Carpodacus rubicilloides_
Red-headed bullfinch. _Pyrrhula erythrocephala_
Godlevski's meadow bunting. _Emberiza godlevskii_
Elwes' shore-lark. _Otocorys elwesi_
Long-billed calandra lark. _Melanocorpha maxima_
Tibetan skylark. _Alauda inopinata_
Short-toed lark. _Calandrella brachydactyla_
Brook's short-toed lark. _Calandrella acutirostris tibetana_
Chough. _Pyrrhocorax graculus_
Brown ground-chough. _Podoces humilis_
Common hoopoe. _Upupa epops_
Pied crested cuckoo. _Coccystes jacobinus_
Eastern little owl. _Athene bactriana_
White-backed dove. _Columba leuconota_
Snow partridge. _Lerwa lerwa_
Temminck's stint. _Tringa temmincki_
Redshank. _Totanus calidris_
Dusky redshank. _Totanus fuscus_
Greater sand plover. _Aegialitis mongola_
Common tern. _Sterna fluviatilis_
In addition to the above the following birds were identified, but
specimens of them were not obtained:--
Wall-creeper
House martin
Sand martin
Rock martin
Alpine chough
Magpie
Black crow
Raven
Swift
Siberian swift
Cuckoo
Himalayan vulture
Laemmergeier
Sea eagle
Pallas' sea eagle
Black-eared kite
Barheaded goose
Ruddy sheldrake
Garganey
Wigeon
Pochard
Gadwall
Hill rock-dove
Chinese turtle dove
Tibetan partridge
Tibetan snow partridge
Blood pheasant
Black-necked crane
White stork
Ibis-bill
Painted snipe
Pin-tailed snipe
Brown-headed gull
C.--LIST OF PLANTS COLLECTED BETWEEN JUNE AND SEPTEMBER, 1921,
12,000-20,400 FT.
Clematis orientalis, L.
Ranunculus pulchellus, C. A. Mey., var. sericeus, Hk. f. & T.
Ranunculus pulchellus, C. A. Mey.
Anemone obtusiloba, Don
Anemone polyanthes, Don
Anemone rivularis, Ham.
Geranium Grevilleanum, Wall.
Caltha scaposa, Hk. f. & T.
Delphinium Brunonianum, Royle
Aconitum gymnandrum, Max.
Aconitum orochryseum, Stapf, sp. nov.
Delphinium Pylzowii, Maxim.
Halenia elliptica, Don
Delphinium grandiflorum, L.
Hypecoum leptocarpum, Hk. f. & T.
Meconopsis horridula, Hk. f. & T.
Meconopsis grandis, Prain?
Meconopsis, sp.
Corydalis, sp.
Corydalis juncea, Wall.
Corydalis Moorcroftiana, Wall.
Arabis tibetica, Hk. f. & T.
Lepidium ruderale, L.
Arenaria ciliolata, Edgew.
Dilophia salsa, Hk. f. & T.
Cardamine macrophylla, Willd.
Arenaria Stracheyi, Edgew.
Silene Waltoni, F. N. Williams
Silene Moorcroftiana, Wall.
Arenaria musciformis, Wall.
Arenaria melandrioides, Edgew.
Polygonum islandicum, Hk. f.
Geranium collinum, A. DC.
Impatiens sulcatus, Wall.
Thermopsis barbata, Royle
Thermopsis lanceolata, R. Br.
Sophora Moorcroftiana, Benth.
Stracheya tibetica, Benth.
Astragalus strictus, Grah.
Oxytropis microphylla, DC
Gueldenstaedtia uniflora, Benth.
Desmodium nutans, Wall.
Potentilla coriandrifolia, Hk. f.
Potentilla multifida, L.
Potentilla sericea, L.
Potentilla microphylla, Don
Potentilla peduncularis, Don
Potentilla Griffithii, Hk. f.
Spiraea arcuata, Hk. f.
Saxifraga Lychnitis, Hk. f. & T.
Saxifraga nutans, Hk. f. & T.
Saxifraga aristulata, Hk. f.
Saxifraga near S. saginoides, Hk. f. & T.
Saxifraga flagellaris, Willd.
Saxifraga Hirculus, L.
Saxifraga Lychnitis, Hk. f. & T.
Saxifraga fimbriata, Wall.
Saxifraga pilifera, Hk. f. & T.
Saxifraga Caveana, W. W. Sm.
Saxifraga microphylla, Royle
Saxifraga pallida, Wall.
Saxifraga umbellulata, Hk. f. & T.
Parnassia ovata, Ledeb.
Parnassia pusilla, Wall.
Eutrema Prewalskii, Hk. f. & T.
Sedum fastigiatum, Hk. f. & T.
Sedum trifidum, Wall.
Sedum crenulatum, Hk. f. & T.
Sedum himalense, Don
Epilobium palustre, L.
Epilobium reticulatum, C. B. Cl.
Pleurospermum Hookeri, C. B. Cl.
Scabiosa Hookeri, C. B. Cl.
Valeriana Hardwickii, Wall.
Aster, sp.
Aster heterochaetus, C. B. Cl.
Allardia glabra, Dene.
Aster tibeticus, Hk. f.
Cremanthodium Decaisnei, C. B. Cl.
Aster diplostephioides, C. B. Cl.
Erigeron, sp.
Leontopodium fimbrilligerum, J. R. Drum.?
Leontopodium monocephalum, Edgew.
Leontopodium Stracheyi, C. B. Cl.
Anaphalis xylorhiza, Sch. Bip.
Anaphalis cuneifolia, Hook. f.
Tanacetum tibeticum, Hk. f. & T.
Senecio arnicoides, Wall. var. frigida, Hk. f.
Cremanthodium pinnatifidum, Benth.
Chrysanthemum Atkinsoni, C. B. Cl.?
Artemisia Moorcroftiana, Wall.
Sonchus sp.
Senecio glomerata, Decne.
Senecio (Sec. Ligularia) sp.
Senecio chrysanthemoides, DC.
Tanacetum khartense, Dunn, sp. nov.
Aster sp.
Lactuca macrantha, C. B. Cl.
Senecio sorocephala, Hemsl.
Saussurea gossypina, Wall.
Saussurea tridactyla, Sch. Bip.
Tanacetum gossypinum, Hk. f. & T.
Saussurea wernerioides, Sch. Bip.
Crepis glomerata, Hk. f.?
Saussurea graminifolia, Wall.
Senecio arnicoides, Wall.
Saussurea uniflora, Wall.
Morina polyphylla, Wall.
Saussurea glandulifera, Sch. Bip.
Lactuca Dubyaea, C. B. Cl.
Lactuca Lessertiana, C. B. Cl.
Cassiope fastigiata, D. Don
Daphne retusa, Hemsl.
Rhododendron lepidotum, Wall.
Rhododendron setosum, Don
Rhododendron near R. lepidotum, Wall.
Rhododendron campylocarpum, Hk. f.
Rhododendron cinnabarinum, Hk. f.
Rhododendron lanatum, Hk. f.
Rhododendron arboreum, Sm.
Rhododendron Thomsoni, Hk. f.
Cyananthus incanus, Hk. f. & T.
Glossocomia tenera, DC.
Cyananthus pedunculatus, C. B. Cl.
Campanula modesta, Hk. f. & T.
Campanula colorata, Wall.
Campanula aristata, Wall.
Androsace chamaejasme, Hort., var. coronata, Wall.
Androsace villosa, L. var.?
Androsace strigillosa, Franch.
Primula minutissima, Jacq.
Primula Buryana, Balf. f. sp. nov.
Primula Wollastonii, Balf. f. sp. nov.
Primula pusilla, Wall.
Primula sikkimensis, Hook, microform
Primula capitata, Hook.
Primula capitata, microform.
Primula uniflora, Klatt
Primula Dickieana, Watt.
Primula obliqua, W. W. Sm.
Primula indobella. Balf. f.
Primula minutissima, Jacq.
Primula glabra, Klatt
Primula Younghusbandii, sp. nov.
Primula tibetica, Watt.
Primula denticulata, Sm.
Primula sikkimensis, Hook.
Primula nivalis, Pallas, var. macrocarpa, Pax.
Gentiana am[oe]na, C. B. Cl.
Gentiana ornata, Wall.
Gentiana sp. Probably new but the material is too imperfect to decide
this.
Gentiana Elwesii, C. B. Cl.
Gentiana robusta, King
Gentiana micantiformis, Burkill
Gentiana nubigena, Edgew.
Gentiana tubiflora, Wall., var. longiflora, Turrill, var. nov.
Gentiana stellata, Turrill, sp. nov.
Gentiana tenella, Fries
Swertia cuneata, Wall.
Arenaria Stracheyi, Edgew.
Swertia Kingii, Hk. f.
Swertia Younghusbandii, Burkill
Swertia multicaulis, D. Don
Nardostachys grandiflora, DC.
Trigonotis rotundifolia, Benth.
Eritrichium densiflorum, Duthie
Microula sikkimensis, Hemsl.
Onosma Waddellii, Duthie
Onosma Hookeri, C. B. Cl.
Verbascum Thapsus, L.
Lancea tibetica, Hk. f. & T.
Lagotis crassifolia, Prain
Pedicularis trichoglossa, Hk. f.
Pedicularis Elwesii, Hk. f.
Pedicularis megalantha, Don, forma
Pedicularis megalantha, Don, var. pauciflora, Prain
Pedicularis Roylei, Maxim.
Pedicularis siphonantha, Don
Pedicularis cheilanthifolia, Schrank
Pedicularis tubiflora, Fischer
Pedicularis integrifolia, Hk. f.
Pedicularis globifera, Hk. f.
Incarvillea Younghusbandii, Sprague
Escholtzia eriostachya, Benth.
Nardostachys Iatamansi, DC.
Dracocephalum breviflorum, Turrill, sp. nov.
Dracocephalum tanguticum, Maxim.
Dracocephalum heterophyllum, Benth.
Dracocephalum speciosum, Benth.
Veronica lanuginosa, Benth.
Nepeta discolor, Benth.
Nepeta Thomsoni, Benth.
Atriplex rosea, L.
Polygonum vaccinifolium, Wall.
Polygonum viviparum, L.
Polygonum tortuosum, Don
Polygonum affine, Don
Polygonum amphibium, L.
Stellera chamaejasme, L.
Euphorbia Stracheyi, Boiss.
Orchis cylindrostachys, Kraenzl.
Liparis sp.
Goodyera fusca, Lindl.
Dendrobium alpestre, Royle
Pleione Hookeriana, S. Moore
Orchis Chusna, Don
Roscoea purpurea, Sm.
Iris nepalensis, Don
Iris goniocarpa, Baker
Iris tenuifolia, Pallas
Lloydia tibetica, Baker
Lloydia sp.
Fritillaria Hookeri, Baker
Fritillaria near F. Stracheyi, Hk. f.
Fritillaria cirrhosa, Don
Allium, sp.
Allium Wallichii, Kunth
Allium Govenianum, Wall.?
Allium cyaneum, Regel
Larix Griffithii, Hk. f.
Dryopteris Linneana, C. Chr.
Dryopteris Filix-mas, var. serrato-dentata, C. Chr.
Cryptogramma Brunoniana, Wall.
Calophaca crassicaulis, Benth.
Glaux maritima, L.
Androsace sessiliflora, Turrill, sp. nov.
Astragalus oreotrophes, W. W. Sm.
Thamnolia vermicularis, Schaer.
Stereocaulon alpinus, Laur.
Thelochistes flavicans, Norm.
NOTE.--The material of some of the numbers was insufficient for accurate
determination; in a few cases the material necessary for comparison was
on loan, and in the case of one or two genera, such as _Aster_, revision
of the North Asian and Indian species will have to be undertaken before
certain plants can be definitely named. The numbers in the list coming
under these categories are named "---- sp."
ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW.
_March 7, 1922._
INDEX
Abdul Jalil, photographic assistant, 59, 319
Abruzzi, Duke of the, 2, 3, 5, 155
Acchu, cook, 103, 133, 178
Acclimatisation to high altitudes, 277, 308, 341
Alpine Club, 1, 7, 14-19, 305
Altitude, effects on human frame, 5, 102, 104-5, 137-8, 154-5, 199, 204,
206-7, 253-4, 276, 307-8, 315, 341; on breathing, 200, 243-4, 277; on
tinned fish, 50
Ammo-chu, river, 39, 44, 291
Aneroids, 341
Ang Tenze, coolie, 113, 149-51, 166
Ari, bungalow, 33
Arun, river, 89, 104-5; gorges, 110, 125, 221, 297, 298; _see_ Bhong-chu
Avalanches, 231, 267-9, 308-9
Bailey, Major, 31, 314
Bamtso, lake, 49
Bell, Sir Charles, 16, 24, 166
Bhompo's, Buddhist sect, 39
Bhong-chu, river, 64-5, 69-71, 89-90, 93, 99, 100, 110, 159, 161, 295;
upper valley, 320, 322; _see_ Arun
Bhotias, 24
Bhotia ponies, 27
Bhotia Kosi, river, 338
Birds, 290-303, 312, 344-6
Brahma Putra, river, 61; _see_ Tsangpo
Bridges, 69, 93-4, 103, 115, 123, 159-60, 191
Bruce, General, 1, 3, 13, 17, 154, 312
Buchan, J., 19
Buddhism and Buddhists, 25, 67-8, 173; books, 41; red cap sect, 173;
yellow cap sect, 58, 173; regard for animal life, 59, 80, 166, 290;
_see_ Monasteries, prayer-wheels
Bullock, G. H., 19, 26, 52; _see_ Mallory
Bullocks, 48, etc.; _see_ Transport
Burrard, Sir S., 10-12
Carpo-ri, mountain, 227; ascended, 117, 229-35, 268
Chamlang, mountain, 140
Chandra Nursery, 32
Chang La (North Col), 142; first view of, 204, 207, 212, 220; way to,
233-40, 246-8, 256; camp on, 259-60; best route to, 273-4, 311-12,
334-5
Changtse, North peak of Everest, 142, 213, 215, 233-4
Chelmsford, Lord, 16
Chheten Wangdi, interpreter, 25, 39, 69, 91, 95, 112, 162, 179
Chinese in Tibet, 38-9, 71-2, 173; in Nepal, 71
Chitayn, coolie, 212
Choebuk, monastery and bridge, 82, 95, 190, 191, 312, 327
Choedzong, village, 86
Chog La, 106, 121, 129, 299-300
Choksum, village, 324
Chomiomo, mountain, 52, 54, 140, 166
Chomolhari, mountain, 45, 48, 60, 64, 167, 263
Chomoloenzo, mountain, 114, 116, 149-51
Chomolungma (Mount Everest or Makalu), 13, 24, 107, 224
Chomo-Uri (Mount Everest), 64
Chorabsang, mountain, 77-8; (= Cho Rapsang, 331)
Chortens, 40, 66, 174, 286, etc.
Cho Uyo, mountain, 73, 76, 78, 101, 207, 219, 330
Choeyling monastery, 194
Chulungphu, village, 89, 104
Chumbi valley, 25, 37-44, 170, 177-8; village, 38; fauna and flora, 291
Chushar Nango, village, 60-61, 131, 134, 295
Chuphar, village and monastery, 327
Chu-tronu, 123
Collie, J. N., 17-18
Compasses, 342
Conway, Sir M., 4, 5
Coolies, 23-5; behaviour, 47, 146, 156, 213, 216, 222-3, etc.; as
carriers, 92-4, 113, 122, 158, 284-6; _see_ Transport; in
mountaineering, 84, 188, 195, 203-6, 212, 230, 251 ff., 332
Crampons, 207-8, 272 Cups of tea, as measures of distance, 108
Curios, 67, 157
Curzon, Lord, 1, 19
Dak, village, 93
Dalai Lama, the, 16, 173
Darjeeling, 23-28, 179
Dasno, coolie, 234
Desiccation, 51
Dochen, bungalow, 49, 168
Dokcho, village, 321
Donka monastery, 40-42
Donkeys, 48, 64, 65, etc.; _See_ Transport
Dorje, cook, 50
Dorji Gompa, coolie, 202, 256
Doto nunnery, 51
Doya La, 88, 104, 336
Dram, village, 325
Drophung monastery, 323
Dug pass, 50
Dukpa, cook, 134, 188
Dunge pokri, island, 127
Dzakar (or Zakar) Chu, river, 93-5, 159, 297, 333
Eaton, J. E. C., 17
Equipment, 20, 315, 341
Everest, Mount, 1-2, 183; position, 9, 13; height, 10-12; names, 13, 64,
225; seen from Khamba Dzong, 54, 56, 183-4; from Shiling, 64, 186-88,
217, 230, 263; from Rongbuk Valley, 192, 263-4; from Kama Valley, 116,
226; local ignorance of, 107, 112, 116; structure, 192-4, 203, 215,
310; best season for ascent, 153, 248, 270; difficulties of, 154, 276,
308; plans for, in 1921, 250-52
-- -- Committee, 16 ff.
-- -- Expedition, origin of, 14-16; value of, 5; objects, 17-18; cost,
19; equipment, 20, 315, 341; results, 179-80, 310-12, 338, 341. _See_
Survey
Everest, Sir G., 13
Farrar, Captain J. P., 14, 17, 19, 315
Finch, Captain G., 19, 313, 315
"Finger," the, station, 335-6
Fourteen lakes, valley of the, 106, 121; fauna and flora, 299
Fowkes, Sergeant, 28
Freshfield, D. W., 1, 14-16, 18
Fuel, 80, 105, 171, 211, 237, 247, 273, 331
Gadompa, village and bridge, 160-61
Galinka, village and monastery, 40
Gandenchoefel monastery, 108, 131
Gauri Sankar, mountain, 288, 326, 331
Gautsa, bungalow, 44
Gelupka (= Yellow Cap) sect, 173
Geshe Rimpoche, Lama, 40
Ghoom, 29
Glaciers, ancient extent of, 128; characteristics, 194, 197, 218;
atmosphere, 200, 243, 270
Gnatong, village, 35-6, 178
Gosainthan, mountain, 64, 101, 284, 322-3
Graham, Dr., 30-31
_Graphic_, the, 19
Gujjar Singh, surveyor, 319, 323-7
Gurkhas in Tibet, 71, 95, 106
Guru Rimpoche, saint, 173
Gyachung Kang, mountain, 207, 219, 330
Gyalzen Kazi, interpreter, 25, 56, 133, 137, 163, 177-8, 188, 190, 202,
323
Gyangka-nangpa, house, 62, 184
Gyanka range of mountains, 184
Haldane, J. S., 341
Halung, village, 86-7, 103, 240; valley, 339
Hari Ram, explorer, 319, 324
Harvest rents, 161, 174
_Hatarana_, steamer, 24
Hayden, Sir H., 338
Hermits, 80, 83-4, 99
Heron, Dr. A. M., 20, 26; expeditions from Tingri, 74, 77-85, 98, 120,
325; first expedition to Kharta, 86-95, 162, 164, 179-80; in Upper
Kharta Valley, 253; returns by Kama Valley, 146-153, 337, and Teesta
Valley, 164, 337; note on geological results, 338-340
Himalaya, 7-8, 11, 304 ff.; H. and the Alps, 194
Hinks, A. R., 17, 20, 315; notes on scientific equipment, 341-2
Holdich, Sir T., 15
Hopaphema, landowner, 91-3, 104, 108, 111-12, 157-8
Hot springs. _See_ Kambu, Tsamda
Howard-Bury, Colonel C. K., 13, 15, 17, 20, 343; author of the general
narrative of the expedition, 23-180; expeditions from Tingri, 75-85;
first expedition to Kharta, 86-95; expeditions from Kharta, 106-111;
visits Kama Valley, 112 ff.; ascent of 19,500 ft. ridge, 116; of Kama
Changri, 136-7; of Lhakpa La, 140-145, 257 ff.
Huc, abbe, 293
India Office, 16
India, Government of, 16, 23
-- Survey of, 20, 26-7, 341
Interpreters, 25, 47; discretion of, 108
Isaacs, Mr., 39
"Island," the, 209, 213, 219
Jack, Colonel E. M., 17, 20, 315
Jannu, mountain, 117, 135, 140
Jelep La, 36, 37, 178, 290, 291 note
Jetsun-Nga-Wang-Choefel, saint, 109, 325
Jongpens, 174-5, 283, 324
Jonsong, mountain, 47, 140
Kabru, mountain, 26, 47, 168
Kala-tso, lake, 51
Kalimpong, village, 29-30
Kama Valley, 112-119, 146-52, 225-7, 311, 339; fauna and flora, 300-01
Kama Changri, mountain, 114, 136-7
Kama-chu, river, 122-4
Kambu hot springs, 40-43; valley, 291
Kanchenjunga, mountain, 9, 46, 117, 135, 140, 185
Kanchenjhow, mountain, 52, 54, 104, 166
Kang-chu, river, 325
Kangchen and -chung passes, 326
Kangdoshung glacier, 115-16
Kangshung glacier, 149-51
Karpo La, 147
Karro Pumri, mountain, 326
Kartse, mountain, 141
Kellas, A. M., 14, 18, 26, 341; illness and death, 46-49, 52-54, 164,
321
Khamba Dzong, fort and village, 13, 24, 53-57, 96, 164
Kharkung, village, 161
Kharta, 24, 90; first visit to, 88-93; headquarters of the expedition,
104-5, 110; survey of, 323, 327; valley formation, 339; fauna and
flora, 299, 301-03
Khartaphu, mountain, 330
Khe or Khetam, village, 50-51
Kheru, 51
Khombu pass, 76, 78-9, 312, 339
-- valley, 150-51
Kimonanga, village, 124
Korabak, rock, 124
Kuti (= Nyenyam), village, 324
Kyetrak, village and valley, 74-77, 327, 331
-- glacier, 70, 77-79, 312;
river, 79
Kyishong, village, 65, 102
Lachen, 56, 337
Lalbir Singh Thapa, surveyor, 319, 322, 327
Lamna La, 81, 327
Langkor, village and temple, 281, 323
Langma La, 112-13, 130, 224
Langra, rest-house, 37, 178
Lapche, village and monastery, 287, 325-6
Lapche Kang, mountain, 115, 284-5, 325
Lashar, village, 161
Lebong, races at, 27
Leeches, 34-5, 123-4, 126, 300, 337
Lhakpa La (Windy Gap), 138, 161, 273-4; first visits to, 240-249, 255-6;
camp on, 140-44, 257-8, 261
Lhasa, 16, 24, 173, 174; road to, 48-49
Lhonak peaks, 52
Lhotse, mountain (S. peak of Everest), 116, 213
Lingga, village, 57, 163-4
Lingmatang, plain, 40, 44, 291
Longstaff, Dr. T. G., 1, 5, 314
Lumeh, village, 93-4, 159
Lungchen La, 322
Lungdoe, village, 110, 125
Lunghi, 167
Macdonald, David and family, 31, 38, 177
Makalu, mountain, 104, 116, 118-19, 137, 186, 225-6, etc.; glacier, 151
Mallory, G. H. L., 19, 26, 313; reconnoitres N. approach to Everest, 74,
181-220; ascends Ri-Ring (23,050 ft.), 205-7, 264; moves to Kharta,
102-106; reconnoitres E. approach to Everest, 117, 221-249; back to
Kharta, 130; ascends Kama Changri, 136-7; final assault and ascent of
North Col, 131-145, 250-261; leaves Kharta, 153; views on weather
conditions, 262-72; on the route up Everest, 273-79
Mammals, 290-303, 312, 344, etc.
Mani Walls, 40, 174, etc.
Maps of Tibet, 62
"Marigolds, Field of," 119, 152
Matsang, village, 125
Meade, C. F., 5, 17, 19
Mendalongkyo, 129
Mende, village, 57
Menkhap-to and -me, villages, 322
Menlung pass, 327
"Metohkangmi," 141
Mila Respa, saint, 287
Monasteries, 99, 113, 173. _See_ Donka, Galinka, Ganden Choefel, Rongbuk,
Shekar Choete, etc.
Monsoon, 31, 48, 88, 91, 139, 216, 248, 262 ff. _See_ Rainfall
Morshead, Major H. T., 20, 25-27, 54, 65, 75, 96; trip to Nyenyam, 97,
108, 281-9, 323-5; at Kharta, 112; survey of Kharta Valley, 131-2,
135; first ascent of Lhakpa La, 130, 230-49; ascends Kama Changri,
136-7; second ascent of Lhakpa La, 140-144, 253-8; map by, 312, 338;
account of survey by, 319-28
Mountain sickness, 207, 258, 323. _See_ Altitude
Mountaineering, 2-4, 6-8, 305-6
Mules, lent by Government, 27-8; breakdown of, 33-4; Tibetan, 32-33, 48,
etc. _See_ Transport
Nangba (= Khombu), pass, 77, 331
Narsing, mountain, 26
Nathu La, 37
Nawang Lobsang, first Dalai Lama, 173
Nepal, 13
Nepalese coolies, 25, 122; invasion of Tibet, 71, 73; traders, 122, 127,
324; herdsmen, 126
Nezogu bridge, 100, 102
Ngawangyonten, official, 94
Nieves penitentes, 78
Nila pass, 61, 184
Noel, Major J. B. L., 14, 314
Nomads, 51, 171
North Col of Everest, 212, 215. _See_ Chang La
North cwm of Everest, 200, 203-4
North peak. _See_ Chang-tse
North-East Arete, 215, 227, 235, 250-51, 259, 274-6, 310
Norton, Major E. F., 313
Nuns and nunneries, 51, 80, 83, 166
Nyenyam, 73, 97, 108, 283-4, 297, 324
Nyima Tendu, coolie, 113, 149-51, 234
Oxygen for climbers, 154, 277, 307-8, 315-16, 341
Padamchen (= Sedongchen), 33
Padma Sambhava, saint, 173
Pashok, 337
Pawhunri mountains, 46, 52, 54, 166
Pedong, 31-2
Pekhu plain, 322
Peshoke, bungalow, 29
Pethang Ringmo, 116, 138
Pethangtse, mountain, 117, 147
Phari, fort and village, 24, 35, 45-8, 168; plain, 46, 292
Pharuk, district, 323, 327
Phema, village, 38
_Philadelphia Ledger_, the, 19
Photography, 68, 72-3, 91, 156, 216-17, 314, 315, 342-3, etc.; perils
of, 74-5; surveying by, 320, 329-30
Phuri, village, 322
Phuse La. _See_ Pusi pass
Pilgrims, 70, 99, 121
Plants, 290-302, 312, 346-50, etc.
Poe-chu, river, 284-5, 297-8, 323-4
Ponglet, view from, 188, 218, 263
Ponies, 27, 34, 48, 87, 101, etc. _See_ Transport
Poo, coolie, 75, 113, 156, 178
Popti La, 106, 126-7, 300
Postal arrangements, 96-7, 131, 135
Prayer wheels, 39-40, 53, 91, 98, 110, 174, 289
Primus stoves, 142-3, 154, 208, 315, 331
Pulahari, village, 281
Pulme, 94
Pumori, mountain, 209
Punagang monastery, 39
Pusi pass, 77, 79, 289 (= Phuse La, 327, 330)
Quiok, pass, 159
Rabkar-chu, river and glacier, 115
Ra-chu, river, 70, 330
Rainfall, 29, 37, 56, 99, 105, 262 ff.
Rawling, Major, 13-14
Reading, Lord, 23
Rebu, village, 87, 103; valley, 339
Rhenock, 32
Ri-Ring, mountain, ascended, 205-6, 270, 311
Richengong, village, 38, 291
Ronaldshay, Lord, 23, 179
Rongbuk, glacier, 84; central and W. branches explored, 194-220;
E. branch, 142, 216-18, 238-40, 247-9, 273-4, 334-6; stream from,
199, 218
-- monastery, 83
-- valley, 82, 191, 339
Rongkong, village, 63
Rongli, bungalow, 32, 178
Rongme, village, 63
Rongshar, valley, 77, 288-9, 298, 325-6
Ruddamlamtso, lake, 121, 128
Rugby, Tibetan boys at, 172
Ryder, Colonel C. H. D., 13, 319
Sakeding, village, 121-22, 127-8
Samchung, pass, 106, 121, 129
Sand dunes, 58, 63-4, 295
Sandakphu, 12, 13
Sanglu, coolie, 254, 256-7
Sedongchen, village, 33-4
Senchal, 29
Serpo-La, 164, 337
Shao La, 112, 118, 153
Sharto, village, 75, 330
Shassi (= New Yatung), 38
Shatog, village, 162
Shekar-Choete, monastery, 67-8, 94
Shekar Dzong, fort and village, 45, 66-7, 96, 295
Sherpa Bhotias, coolies, 24, 188, 224, 252
Shidag, nunnery, 51
Shigatse, 51, 55, 174
Shiling, 161, 188. _See_ Everest, Mount
Shung-chu, river, 79
Shurim Tso, lake, 114
Sikkim, survey of, 27, 320-21, 327; journey through, 29-36; flora of,
_ibid._
Siniolchum, mountain, 46
Sipri mountains, 99
Skis, 158
Snow, 248, 254, 264-8; temperature of, 270; powdery, 171, 231, 243,
256; powdery snow and wind, 139, 142, 144, 159, 167-8, 259-60, 271,
etc.
Snow-blindness, 103, 167, 171
Snowfall, 37, 171
Snow line, 56
Snow men, the abominable, 141
Snow shoes, 137, 211-14, 232, 243, 254, 265, 270
Somers Cocks, E. L., 16
Somervell, H. T., 312, 313
Strutt, Colonel E. L., 313
Sun's rays, 270, 308
Survey work of expedition, 179, 312. _See_ Heron, Morshead, Wheeler
Sutso plain, 99, 321-22
Takda, cantonment, 29
Tamba Sanye, saint, 281, 323
Tameness of animals, 59-60, 76-77, 80, 83, 88, 94, 131
Tang La, 48, 167, 323
Tang-puen-sum, plain, 48
Tangsham, 114, 117, 152
Targyeling, village, 324
Tasang, village, 79, 289, 327
Tashi Dzom, 95
Tashilumpo monastery, 51, 173
Tashishong, 325
Tatsang, nunnery, 52, 165-6
Teesta Valley, 27, 29-30, 164, 337
Temperature, 269-70, 308, 342
Tents, airlessness of, 143, 154, 258
Thermometers, 342
Thrashing, 164
Thung-La, 282; fauna and flora, 297
Tibet, 13, 36, 170 ff.; geology of, 338; Government, 173-4; helps the
expedition, 16, 24, 45, etc.
Tibetans, 170 ff.
Tibetan beer, 57, 125, 156; bread, 125; burial, 74, 133; climate, 49,
176; coinage and currency, 47, 59, 123; coolies, 223-4; houses, 38,
89, 321; marriage, 74; meals, 48, 59, 62, 67, 101, 108, etc.; mules,
177-9; ornaments, 73, 101, 107; ponies, 27, 55, 101, 176;
superstitions, 66, 72, 109, 122, 141, 174, 282; tea, 41, etc.
_Times_, newspaper, 19, 156
Tingri, 70-75, 95-101; plain of, 70; its fauna and flora, 96, 295-7;
origin of name, 282, 323
Tinki, fort and village, 58, 162; birds of, 294; pass, 60, 162, 321;
flowers of, 295
Trangso Chumbab, rest-house, 65
Transport, 27-8, 34-5, 45, 48, 60, 65, 69, 86, 92, 158-9, 165, 173, 284.
_See_ Coolies, Mules, Yaks
Trintang, village, 326
Tropde, village, 326
Tsakor, village, 70
Tsamda, hot springs, 99, 321
Tsampa, 172-3, 222, 337
Tsang, province, 319
Tsangpo, river, 319-20
Tsering, five peaks, 326
Tsogo, 65, 159
Tsomotretung, lake, 61
Tsong Kapa, monk, 173
Tulsi Dass, gardener, 32
Tulung, village, 323
Tuna, rest-house, 48
Turubaz Khan, surveyor, 319, 321
Wakefield, Dr. A. W., 313
Waugh, Sir A., 10, 12, 13
Weather. _See_ Monsoon, Rainfall, Wind
West cwm of Everest, 208-9, 212, 214
Wheeler, Major, E. O., 20, 26, 52, 164, 252, 320; expedition to Kyetrak,
74, 77-81, 98, 330-33; to Rongbuk Valley, 102, 333-36; discovers
E. Rongbuk glacier, 217, 240, 247-8, 334; arrives at Kharta, 249; to
Lhakpa La, 140-44, 257; to Chang La, 144-5, 258-61; returns by Kama
Valley, 146-153, 337, and Teesta Valley, 164, 337; map by, 312, 328,
338; account of photographic survey by, 329-337
Wind, 50, 72, 75, 147-8, 171, 178, 265, 308, 342. _See_ Snow
Wollaston, A. F. R., 20, 26; returns with Raeburn to Sikkim, 56; rejoins
at Tingri, 74, 75, 96; trip to Nyenyam, 97, 108, 323-25; described by
him, 281-89; at Kharta, 249; to Lhakpa La, 140 ff., 257-8; returns by
Kama Valley, 146-153, 165, 342; natural history notes by, 290-303,
344-350; collections, 312
Yaks, 61, 81, 161, 171, 286, 294, etc.
Yaru, river, 56-7, 61-3, 101-2
Yatung, 38-9, 177
Younghusband, Sir F., 1, 15-17, 19, 20
Zachar-chu. _See_ Dzakar-chu
Zambu, village, 81
* * * * *
_Printed in Great Britain by_ Butler & Tanner, _Frome and London_
* * * * *
[Illustration: MAP I.
PRELIMINARY MAP to illustrate the route of the MOUNT EVEREST EXPEDITION
1921.
Reduced from the map on the scale 1/253440
by Major Morshead and assistants of the Survey of India, accompanying the
expedition: the neighbourhood of the Mountain from Map II.
Scale 1/750,000 or 1 Inch = 11.84 Stat. Miles.]
* * * * *
[Illustration: MAP II
Preliminary Map of MOUNT EVEREST
constructed at the R. G. S. from photographs and sketches made by the
EXPEDITION of 1921]
* * * * *
[Illustration: MAP III
THE GEOLOGY of the MOUNT EVEREST REGION from the surveys of
Dr. A. M. HERON
Geological Survey of India 1921.
The topography from Map I.
Scale 1/750,000 or 1 Inch = 11.84 Stat. Miles.
* * * * *
The table below lists all corrections applied to the original text.
p ix: Kama Valley. Kangchenjunga -> Kanchenjunga
p 12: Ladnia | 1849 | 108 | 29,998 -> 28,998
p 13: call it Chomo-lungmo -> Chomolungma
p 24: Despatched -> Dispatched
p 26: two, Gujar -> Gujjar
p 44: of the Ammochu -> Ammo-chu
P 54: KAMPA -> KHAMBA
p 64: known as Chomo-lungma-> Chomolungma
p 101: and raisins as a -> an
p 107: right up to Chomo-lungma -> Chomolungma
p 109: saint called Jetsun-Nga-Wang-Chhoefel -> Choefel
p 133: the great lammergeier -> Laemmergeier
p 138: VALLEY. Kangchenjunga -> Kanchenjunga
p 146: to Kharta via-> via
p 149: cliffs of Chomolonzo -> Chomoloenzo
p 149: formed by Chomolonzo -> Chomoloenzo
p 163: a couple of Gargany -> Garganey
p 188: might be required we -> required. We
p 236: toiled over the neve -> neve
p 265: snow-shoes on neve -> neve
p 271: before the next moonsoon -> monsoon
p 275: offering a detour -> detour
p 290: Rongbuk Valley the burrhel -> burhel
p 291: Dippers, wag-tails -> wagtails
p 294: packs of widgeon -> wigeon
p 302: of a wolf. Burrhel -> Burhel
p 302: Dippers (_Cinclus cashmiriensis_) -> cashmirensis_)
p 302: daily by lammergeier -> Laemmergeier
p 302: seen was a lammergeier -> Laemmergeier
p 303: Birds, _Ibis._ -> _Ibid._
p 309: the broken debris -> debris
p 311: its satellite Chomo-Loenzo -> Chomoloenzo
p 322: hares, some ram-chakor -> ramchakor
p 322: a young, week-old barhal -> burhel
p 323: with the interpreter Gyaldzan -> Gyalzen
p 325: by Nepalese subjects (Sharpas) -> (Sherpas)
p 326: summit of Gaurisankar -> Gauri-Sankar
p 327: Bhong Chu below Lungdo -> Lungdoe
p 330: plain to the village of Shaerto -> Sharto
p 333: I took a 20,000-foot tation -> station
p 337: Darjeeling via Lachen -> L[=a]chen
p 337: on either side of the Kharta -> Kh[=a]rta
p 337: at all of Kangchenjunga -> Kanchenjunga
p 339: Lhamo limestone in Sikhim -> Sikkim
p 339: overlooking the Khumbu -> Khombu
p 345: Calandrella acutirostris tibitana -> tibetana
p 346: Greater sand plover. _Aaegialitis -> _Aegialitis
p 346: Lammergeier -> Laemmergeier
p 351: Bhompos -> Bhompo's
p 351: _see_ Tsan-po -> Tsangpo
p 351: Carpo-Ri -> Carpo-ri
p 351: Chang La (North Col) -> (North Col),
p 351: first view of, 204; -> 204,
p 351: Chodzong -> Choedzong
p 351: Choyling -> Choeyling
p 352: 65, etc. -> etc.;
p 352: results -> results,
p 353: to Kharta, 86-95; -> 86-95,
p 353: Jetsun-Nga-Wang-Chhoefel -> Choefel
p 354: Lungdo -> Lungdoe
p 354: Monasteries, 99, 113, 173 -> 173.
p 354: Ganden Chhofel -> Choefel
p 354: _See_ rainfall -> Rainfall
p 354: _See_ altitude -> Altitude
p 355: Samchang -> Samchung
p 355: flora of, _ibid_ -> _ibid._
p 356: Tsang-po -> Tsangpo