CHAPTER XV
NATURAL HISTORY
Previous experience of the conditions of Tibetan travel had taught me that collection and observation was a task requiring complete immunity from other duties; but to the doctor of such an Expedition this condition was not attainable. In the collection of specimens we were, however, fortunate in obtaining the assistance of several other members of the Expedition. But it is especially to Major Norton that the thanks of the Everest Committee are due, for in addition to his other duties, he took over the whole of the botanical work and worked equally with myself in all other branches of Zoology. His gift of painting was particularly valuable in leading to the certain identification of birds in districts where collecting was prohibited. At the time of writing he is on duty at Chanak, and the following notes lose half their value through lack of his promised collaboration, which I had anticipated with particular pleasure.
In his absence I must omit all reference to botany, for personally, owing to the wintry conditions during our outward march and to the speed of my journey back with the invalids, I saw nothing that has not been already better described by Wollaston. But Norton, with our Lepcha collector Rumoo, obtained some 350 flowering plants in Kharta, and we also sent back samples of agricultural seeds.
It must be remembered that it was the constant aim of General Bruce to render it easier for any subsequent party to pass through the country. The objection of the Tibetans to the taking of any wild life is almost universal amongst the clerics and is devoutly shared by the lay population in certain localities. These considerations unfortunately applied particularly to the districts of Tengkye, Shelkar Dzong and Rombuk, where the killing of even domestic animals is prohibited.
There are, however, other parts of Tibet where the same restraint is unnecessary, and even where hunting is habitually practised by the semi-nomadic population. This immunity in our case applied especially to the Chumbi Valley and the country round Phari, and in consequence we have been able to bring back some material which it is hoped will add to the value of the larger collections brought back last year by Dr. Wollaston.
That portion of Tibet visited by the Expedition, and indeed it is typical of most of its provinces, is a region of bare uplands and naked mountains. Such physical conditions combine with a violent type of radiation in the thin dry air to evolve a daily strife of winds, ceaselessly seeking to rectify the balance of atmospheric stability; this continual wind is indeed the foundation of the traveller’s discomfort and the worst enemy of the mountaineer.
[Illustration:
ROMOO, THE LEPCHA COLLECTOR, WHO ASSISTED DR. LONGSTAFF AND MAJOR NORTON. ]
[Illustration:
KARMA PAUL, THE EXPEDITION’S INTERPRETER. ]
Owing to its aridity, due to the intervention of the rain-catching Himalaya, the country is practically treeless. Distant open views prevail over vast landscapes, lit by strong lights in an atmosphere devoid of fogs or softening mist effects. Usually nothing can move without being visible from a great distance. Hence, though it is not a region particularly rich in life, yet those forms which do prevail are not easily overlooked. Concealment is only to be obtained by burrowing underground, or by immobility combined with protective coloration.
Nowhere is this more obtrusively shown than on the great stony uplands, at an altitude of from 14,000 to 17,000 feet East and South of Khamba Dzong. Here we were in constant sight of bands of wild asses, gazelle, and sheep: from a distance of a couple of miles a prowling wolf was easily discerned. The ground is nowhere here covered by a continuous carpet of grass or herbs, but each plant is several yards from the next. Hence even a small herd of game will cover the ground with innumerable tracks, suggesting to the uninitiated a far greater number of individuals than really exist. To watch a flock of Tibetan sheep or goats grazing seems like watching a migration, for the herd moves at a smart walk, often breaking into a run, each individual racing for the next mouthful a few yards ahead. They move on a wide front, with the shepherd and his wolf-dog well in evidence. On one occasion we came on a wolf devouring a lamb: 50 yards away lay the guardian dog, waiting apparently for any scraps the robber might leave.
It might be supposed that as in the Arctic the birds and animals would turn white in winter. But two sufficient reasons against this necessity have already been indicated. Firstly, the snow line is so high, probably between 19,000 and 20,000 feet, that vegetation does not extend up to it: even the predatory beasts are dependent on vegetation for the pasture of their prey. Secondly, evaporation is so rapid that the country is never snow-clad for long even during the winter season.
But some modification of habit to meet the hostility of winter, under conditions of life already so severe, is to be looked for. Of Marmots we saw nothing during the journey to Everest; probably they were still hibernating. Norton found them later in Kharta and obtained a welcome specimen. Yet Hares were very common at 16,000 to 17,000 feet, several haunting the old moraines of the Rongbuk Glacier even above our Base Camp. Here also, at 17,000 feet, was a small herd of Bharel, or Blue Sheep, which having some familiarity with the hermit monks permitted a fairly close approach.
More interesting are the Mouse-hares, or Pikas, of several varieties, small friendly creatures which live in colonies, mainly (_Ochotona curzoniæ_) on the open plains, where even their small burrows sometimes undermine considerable areas so that one must ride with care. They are quick and lively in their movements, darting from hole to hole with extreme rapidity, and peeping from their burrows at the stranger with obvious amusement. They are often first seen sitting up on their hind-legs. They lay in stores of grass for winter use, though the evidence all goes to prove that they do not regularly hibernate. They frequently utter a nearly inaudible high-pitched whispering call, a sort of subdued whistle, from which no doubt comes the (Shoka) Bhotia name of _shippi_, “The Whisperer,” which I obtained in Gnari Khorsum in 1905. Certain birds, as will be subsequently noted, live in association with these small rodents, and add a further note to the charm of their colonies. It appears impossible to trap them, and as their skulls are usually damaged by shooting, a good series of skins, in both summer and winter pelage, of the different species, is still much wanted for study in our museums.
The collection of small mammals is always difficult, and under the circumstances already detailed our collection of skins was necessarily a very small one. Geoffrey Bruce, however, obtained a perfect specimen of the Panda (_Ailurus fulgens_) from the forests on the Chumbi side of the Jelep La. This curiously aberrant animal, sometimes called the Bear-Cat, is about the size of a fox, and has rich thick fur of a chestnut colour on the back, black below, and with a thick bushy ring-marked tail; in appearance it resembles somewhat the badgers, the bears, and the cats. Its relative, the Great Panda of Tibet, is one of the rarest of large mammals, owing to its very circumscribed distribution.
A Hamster and a few Pikas of three varieties were caught at night in our tents. A Weasel (_M. temon_) shot in Sikkim, with another Weasel and a Marmot from Kharta, complete our list of mammal skins. We are much disappointed at our failure to see or obtain any specimens from 20,000 feet, where Wollaston’s Pika was actually handled last year—the greatest known altitude for resident mammals.
As to the birds, we were fortunate in having been able to go over Dr. Wollaston’s collection with Mr. Norman B. Kinnear of the Natural History Museum, who provided us in addition with a series of careful notes by which we could identify those likely to be met with in localities where we could not shoot. It is hoped that our material will be found sufficient for Mr. Kinnear to publish a supplement to his recent paper in the _Ibis_ on last year’s collection.
Dr. Percy R. Lowe, Keeper of Birds of the Natural History Museum, was particularly anxious for us to obtain for him a specimen of the Himalayan or Ibis-billed Curlew (_Ibidorhynchus struthersi_) in the flesh, for purposes of dissection, nothing being known of its anatomy up to the present. Luckily this bird haunts the Chumbi Valley, and Norton and I were able to spend a day in its pursuit. It is of the form of a small curlew, of a general french-grey hue with bold dark markings, and coral red beak and legs. There were several of these birds, not yet (April 3) paired, about Yatung in the Chumbi Valley, but they were very wary. They utter a high-pitched wader-like note not at all resembling our curlew. They always flew directly over the main river, whence we never could have retrieved them. The shores of this river are fringed by beaches of large round grey pebbles, and resting amongst these the birds were invisible. Eventually I lay up under the bank and Norton succeeded in driving a bird on to an island in mid-stream, where I shot it. With an outward display of truly scientific eagerness we divested ourselves of our nether garments and waded waist deep through the torrent. We came near quarrelling as to whether the water or the air was the coldest. But at any rate we retrieved our bird, and what is more brought it, duly preserved in spirits, through all the trials of travel and climate, safely back to Dr. Lowe.
In the Chumbi Valley also we obtained the Great or Solitary Snipe (_Gallinago solitaria_), an addition to last year’s list. But my favourite family, the Redstarts, were the most interesting. The beautiful White-capped Redstart (_Chimarhornis leucocephalus_), mostly widely distributed in the Himalaya, was still with us. The Plumbeous Redstart (_Rhyacornis fuliginosus_) and the Blue-fronted Redstart (_Phœnicurus frontalis_) we had already obtained in Sikkim. These also were present at the beginning of April in the Chumbi Valley. We obtained in addition the beautiful Blue-tail or Red-flanked Bush-Robin (_Tarsiger rafiliatus_). I understand that the three latter species have not been previously recorded from this locality. The Blue-tail frequents dense bushes over marshy spots and is very quiet and furtive in its habits, while the Redstarts are the most obtrusive of birds, as to me they are one of the most beautiful of families. At Phari I luckily obtained a specimen of what I thought was the Indian Redstart, but the bird in the hand proved again to be the Blue-fronted sort. At 17,000 feet, above the Base Camp over the snout of the main Rongbuk Glacier, I saw a cock-bird of Güldenstadt’s Redstart (_Phœnicurus erythrogaster grandis_), fortunately a very easily recognisable bird, and one I had previously seen in Nubra and the Karakoram country.
Although I had previously become somewhat familiar with bird-life in Tibet, I was not prepared to see the teeming flocks of finches, buntings, and larks which we met with on the bare stony uplands at every old camping ground or village we encountered. A portion of this swarming bird population appears to have been due to the spring migration being at its height. Of this we had evidence before and during our passage of the Jelep La, from Sikkim into the Chumbi Valley. At Phari and at Khamba Dzong especially, the birds appeared not yet to have dispersed in pairs to their breeding territory, but, though actually arrived at their destination, to be still collected in migration flocks. Yet this condition of things may be more apparent than real, for neither Norton nor I ever managed to find any evidence of nesting behaviour in such an extremely common bird as Brandt’s Ground Linnet. It is conceivable that the inimical climatic conditions of Tibet are such as to condemn a larger proportion than usual of the bird population to a celibate existence, a condition which is at least by no means rare even in the British Isles. A small piece of evidence is that the only four nests of larks and wagtails which I found contained only three eggs each, as if the altitude had reduced the number of eggs laid. It is to be noted that in each case the eggs were incubated, and so the clutches were presumably complete. But as an exception to this rule, at Chushar, on June 13, I found a nest of the Eastern Desert Wheatear with a normal clutch of five eggs.
In writing of nesting, it may be recorded that we obtained the eggs of the Tibetan Snow Cock (_Tetraogallus tibetanus_) from nearly 17,000 feet on the Pang La. At the Base Camp (16,500 feet), a Brown Accentor (_Prunella f. fulvescens_) commenced building its nest in a crevice between a stack of provision boxes in the middle of the camp on May 16. Laying did not commence till May 25—a long period of delay—and was completed with the third egg on the 27th. The hen commenced to sit at once, and no more eggs were laid. Norton observed Alpine Choughs and Rock Doves nesting in the cliffs above the Base Camp at an altitude of 17,000 feet. Besides the usual Ravens, and the species already named, the Base Camp was visited by Brandt’s Ground Linnet (_Leucosticte brandti_), a Sparrow, a Snow Finch, the Ground Chough (_Podoces humilis_), and the Shore Lark (_Otocorys alpestris elwesi_).
Noel, during his vigil on the Chang La (23,000 feet), saw a small bird fly above him, borne on the Westerly gale. But Wollaston’s Lammergeyer maintains still the first place in altitude with a record of over 24,000 feet.
At Trangso Chumbab, on June 11, I had the opportunity of observing the habits of Blandford’s Mountain-Finch (_Chionospiza blandfordi_). This bird seems to live in amity with the Pikas (_Ochotona curzoniæ_) in their burrows. I marked the birds bringing food to a Pika burrow, and wishing to see what the young in down were like, Finch and I commenced to dig out the hole. It proved, however, beyond our powers in the sun-baked ground, so I fell to watching again. We had laid open the burrow for about 2 feet. The hen-bird at once returned with food, but alighting at the spot where the burrow formerly commenced, began immediately to tunnel into the ground, quite oblivious of the true opening in full view only 2 feet away. What would our nature writers say to such a lapse of intellect? The bird burrowed with its beak, diving its head into the ground and boring with a very rapid jerky twist so that the sand was scattered in a small cloud. This was repeated several times and on several visits. I then filled up the trench, leaving the nesting hole open. On the next visit the bird flew down the hole, which I then stopped with loose earth. In the morning the burrow had been completely cleared and the birds were busily feeding their young again. This seems to point to the conclusion that these birds are naturally ground-dwellers, and are fully capable of making their own tunnels, but that the abundance of Pika burrows has induced lazy habits. Mandelle’s Snow-Finch (_Montifringilla mandelli_), not obtained by last year’s Expedition, was shot by us at Pika warrens at Phari (April 7), and seen, always associated with Pikas, on the following days.
On June 11, also, we were witnesses to what must be a common tragedy. A family of small Brahminy ducklings—the Ruddy Sheldrake of Europe—were making their noisy way down from some nesting site on the steppe to the headwaters of the Arun—and safety. The parent birds may have taken fright at our camp, through which the ducklings scuttled fearlessly. The loathsome Ravens, gathered, as always, for carrion or camp refuse, swooped down and attacked the hapless family, bolting a whole duckling at each mouthful. Surely a gun would have done no harm here.
Norton made the interesting discovery that the Meadow Bunting (_Emberiza cia godlewskii_) breeds in the Kama Valley, thus extending its breeding range far to the South. It may, indeed, be expected that several species now believed to breed only in Siberia may in fact be found nesting on the Northern slopes of the Himalaya, and even in other highland regions of Tibet. For here altitude comes to the assistance of latitude to produce an arctic type of climate, flora, and fauna; though it must be admitted that the aridity of Tibet must produce very different climatic conditions to those obtaining in the far North. In Gnari Khorsum, 400 miles West of Everest, I had obtained specimens, with young in down, of the Large Eastern Sand Plover (_Cirripedesmus mongolicus atrifrons_), which previously was only known as a breeding species from much farther North; and again, the day we left Tibet, at 17,000 feet, on the Serpo La, I found another pair of these Dotterel, from their behaviour obviously nesting, so to speak, at the very gates of India, for 10 miles further on we had left everything Tibetan behind us—landscape, flowers, birds, beasts, and insects were all different. Nowhere else in the world can there be a sharper natural division than between the Tibetan Highlands and the true Himalayan Zone.
The physical and climatic conditions prevailing in this part of Tibet produces an environment hostile to reptilian and amphibian life. The single Toad obtained last year was quite new to science, and Norton’s capture of a second specimen is a great piece of luck. Miss Joan B. Procter, F.Z.S., of the Natural History Museum, has described and named it (_Cophophryne alticola_). It is remarkable by having the toes fully webbed. She also writes that the Toad, together with the Frog (_Nanorana pleskei_) and the Lizard (_Phrynocephalus theobaldi_), are all devoid of external ears, the tympanum itself being absent in the Toad. This unusual modification is attributed to the effect of altitude, but it has also been suggested that the absence of ears is due to inherited atrophy following generations of frost-bite—an interesting subject for the followers of Weissman!
The fish, rejoicing in the name of _Schizopygopsis stoliczkæ_, is stated by Mr. Norman never to have been previously obtained from such an altitude.
With the Molluscs we drew blank, in spite of Norton’s energetic dredging of tarns and pools at Kharta. Nor did any member of the Expedition produce a single snail-shell, though all were armed with pill-boxes and on the look out for them.
It is probably only among the various families of insects that any important biological results may be hoped for from this Expedition. Our collection from the Base Camp, greatly due to the assistance received from Morris, of more than 300 beetles of a dozen or more species, may be sufficient to show some evidence of the effect of environment. A number of them are new to science, and, with one or two exceptions, were not obtained last year. There are already described over 100,000 kinds of beetles, and under these circumstances it is obvious that even such a modest collection as ours will take some time to work out. Mr. K. G. Blair, of the Natural History Museum, has it in hand, and, with the assistance of Mr. H. E. Andrewes and Dr. G. A. K. Marshall, will certainly make the most of it. His preliminary note gives 160 specimens of four or perhaps five kinds of Ground Beetles (_Carabidæ_) belonging to genera of Palæarctic distribution. Of the Tenebrionids there are 140 specimens belong to six species, probably all new, but characteristic of the mountainous regions of Central Asia. Of the Weevils there are only seventeen specimens, but they appear to belong to seven new species. Two of these were kindly collected by Norton’s Toad.
Mr. B. P. Uvarov is working out the Orthoptera, and writes that our Stick-Insect (Phasmid) is of great interest because the family is essentially a sub-tropical group and has never been recorded from any such high altitude before. We were lucky, also, in getting three more specimens of Wollaston’s curious new Grasshopper (_Hypernephia everesti_, Uvarov). At the same time, my old specimens from Purang have been elevated into the type of a new species of a new genus (_Hyphinomos fasciata_). Future visitors are earnestly requested to collect every grasshopper-like insect they meet here, for the orthopterous fauna of High Asia is wholly unexplored.
It must be remembered that we constantly passed through localities in which it was inadvisable to show even a butterfly-net. When recrossing the Pang La (17,000 feet), I lagged behind and spent a laborious hour collecting disconcertingly quick-flying, woolly-bodied flies; these and others are being worked out by Major E. E. Austen, D.S.O.
There is also a Burrowing Bee (_Ammophia sp._), the most interesting insect I met. It is of a repellent ant-like aspect, of an evil black and red pattern. It flies astonishingly fast, and can only be netted by careful stalking when it lands to burrow in the sand. It is preparing a tomb for a paralysed grub in which it will lay its own egg; on hatching, the bee grub will feed on the living corpse of its entertainer. I first observed it by noticing, as I rode along the banks of the Phung Chu, tiny jets of sand being shot violently upwards from the ground, the insect itself being quite invisible. My pony, a true Tibetan, loathed the sight of a butterfly-net; I had no companion to hold him, and the pursuit of science was attended by more than the usual trials.
A series of small Moths was obtained at the Base Camp, and Norton collected more in Kharta. These are being worked out by Mr. W. H. T. Tams, but in the case of Moths, identification is a particularly lengthy and laborious business.
The Butterflies are naturally few in such an environment; nor does the constant wind make their breathless capture any easier. Captain N. D. Riley is working them out, and tells me that in general they resemble our English butterflies, with other Alpine families. On a recent visit to the Museum, I was excusing the scantiness of our collection, explaining that, as a rule, I had only been able to collect while crossing high passes. Indicating a series of small dark brown “Ringlets,” rather the worse for wear, I said that that was all I saw above 16,000 feet. “Why that,” said Riley, “is a new species of a new genus!” So may our successors seize every opportunity that offers of collecting even the least and most inconspicuous-looking insects in the endeavour to assist our research workers in adding some particle to the sum of our knowledge of nature.
[Illustration:
SKETCH-MAP OF MOUNT EVEREST AND THE RONGBUK GLACIERS. From surveys by Major Wheeler, with Route and Camps of the 1922 Expedition added by Colonel Strutt. _London: Edward Arnold & Co._ ]
[Illustration:
The Route of the MOUNT EVEREST EXPEDITION 1922 CHUMBI TO MT. EVEREST _Published by Edward Arnold & Co. for the Mount Everest Committee_ _from maps prepared by the Royal Geographical Society._ (Click on map for larger version.) ]
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INDEX
Abruzzi, Duke of, the, 115
Acclimatisation, 77–78, 126–240, 288–289, 299–308
Altitude, zones of, 262 _ff._; effects of, 305. _See_ Acclimatisation
Ammu Chu valley, 29
Army and Navy Stores, 21
Arun river, 39, 43, 82–87, 97; gorges of, explored, 98–102
Avalanche on Mount Everest, 69, 282–285
Base Camp, the, 49–51, 124
Bhong Chu, river, (= Arun, _q.v._)
Bride Peak (Baltistan), 115
Brown, Mr., 21
Bruce, Captain J. G., 8, 20, 33, 130, 325; in second attempt on Mount Everest, 61–62, 116–117, 236–249, 254–257; leaves Base Camp for Kharta, 65, 80, 85, 89–90, 95
Bruce, General C. G., 4–6, 8, 19–20; author of the _Narrative of the Expedition_, 17–118, 130, 143
Bullock, Mr. G., 139, 156, 162
Camp IV (on North Col.), 57; route to, from E. Rongbuk glacier, 125, 153–159, 173–175; from main Rongbuk glacier, 259
Camp V (above North Col), 288
Camps, problem of, 141, 258, 287, 291–292
Camps I, II, and III on E. Rongbuk glacier, 52, 54–56, 145–152, 231
Chang La (= North Col, _q.v._), 289, 329
Changtse, mountain, 158
Chey La, 105
Chiu, camp, 108
Cho Uyo, mountain, 72, 158, 209, 246
Chobu village, 104
Chodzong, camp, 43, 79
Chog La, 89–90
Chokarbo, camp, 89–90
Chomolhari, mountain, 28
Chomolonzo, mountain, 91
Chomolungmo (= Mount Everest), 123
Chongay, tent-mender, 21, 31, 92–94, 103
Chongay La, agent of the Shekar Dzongpen, 42, 53, 57
Chongray, Tibetan deity, 45
Chotromo, camp, 98
Chumbi valley, 27, 29–30, 38, 105, 111, 326–327
Chushar, 329
Cigarette-smoking, effects of, 266–267
Clothing, 186–188, 262, 307. _See_ Wind-proof clothing
Cooks, 23, 56
Crampons. _See_ Foot-gear
Crawford, Mr. C. G., 8, 20, 22, 38, 227–228; at Camp III, 168–169; in third attempt on Mount Everest, 275, 280–284; return to Darjeeling, 96–97, 114
Dalai Lama, the, 85, 118
Damtang, village, 92, 103
Darjeeling, 20, 22, 114
Dasno, Mallory’s porter, 153, 159
Donka La, 32, 111
Doya La, 66, 81–82
Dra, village, 105
Dreyer, Professor G., 253, 279
Dzakar Chu, river, 43, 81, 104
East Rongbuk glacier, 51, etc. _See_ Camps I, II, III
Everest, Mount, 18, 114, 125; compared with Mont Blanc, 231–233; first attempt on, 58–60, 182–224, 253–254, 256; second attempt, 61–62, 227–250, 254–257; third attempt, 66–70, 273–286; weather conditions, 18, 170–171, 233–234, 275, 292
Farrar, Captain J. P., 8–10
Father William, 84, 104
Finch, Captain George, 6, 10, 20, 22; joins main body at Kamba Dzong, 38, 227–228; 39, 58, 59; to site of Camp I, 230–231; at Base Camp, 231 _ff._, to Camp III, 234–235; second attempt on Mount Everest, 61–62, 116–117, 237–250, 254–257; starts on third attempt, but returns, 66–67, 251–252; return to Darjeeling, 67, 252. Author of Chapters VII, VIII, and IX
Food, 177–180
Foot-gear, 197, 268, 293
Fuel, 51, 52, 93
Gembu (= headman), 100
Gnatong, bungalow, 26, 27, 112, 130
Gurkhas, 5, 20
Gyachang Kang, mountain, 72, 158, 209
Gyaljen, sardar, 32–33, 63
Gyamda, pony, 29, 80, 82
Gyang’ka-nangpa, camp, 39, 133, 136–137
Gyantse, town, 29, 110
Hats, Homburg, as gifts, 42, 85
Head-gear, 263, 268
Howard-Bury, Colonel, 3, 4, 8, 17, 32, 39
Hung Zungtrak, camp, 36
Hurké Gurung, naik, 32
Jelep La, 27, 38, 112, 131, 227
Jelep valley, 29
Jykhiop, camp, 107
Kalimpong, 21, 22, 27, 227
Kama valley, 88–89, 93, 171, 331
Kanchenjunga, 112, 114
Karma Paul, interpreter, 24, 45, 47, 63, 79
Kehar Sing, cook, 80, 92
Kellas, Dr., 38
Khamba Dzong, 32, 37, 39, 109, 228
Kharta valley, 65, 83
Kharta Shika, 83, 87–89
Khartaphu, mountain, 158
Khombu La, 54
Kosi river, 97
Kyamathang, village, 97, 99–100
Kyishong, camp, 106
Laden La, Mr., 27
Lal Sing Gurung, lance-naik, 32
Leeches, 113
Lhakpa La, 158
Lhakpa Tsering, boy, 38
Lhotse, 126
Longstaff, Dr. T. G., 19, 130; first reconnaissance to site of camp III, 51–53, 64; return to Darjeeling, 65, 252. Author of Chapter XV
Lumeh Camp, 104
Lungdo, village, 100
Lungtung, village, 26, 113
Macdonald, Mr. John, 29–30, 63, 72, 106, 111, 113
Makalu, mountain, 152, 171, 312
Mallory, Mr. G. L., 4, 6, 9, 19, 130; attempt on Sangkar Ri, 39, 133–137; ascends 21,000 ft. peak near Base camp, 140; to Camp I, 144; Camp II, 146; Camp III, 148; to North Col and back, 57, 152–160, 301; at Camp III, 160–168; establishes Camp IV, 169–174, 300; first attempt on Mount Everest, 56–59, 175–224; third attempt, 273–286, 308; return to Darjeeling, 96–97. Author of Chapters IV–VI, X and XI
Monsoon, the, 18, 50, 58, 68, 70, 275–276, 292
Morris, Captain C. G., 8, 20, 21, 33; establishes Camp I, 52; meets party of second attempt on Everest at Camp III, 223; conducts evacuation of Camps I–III, 66–71; explores the Arun gorges, 95, 98–102
Morshead, Major, 4, 8, 20, 130; on first reconnaissance to site of Camp III, 51–52; arrives at Camp III, 168; establishes Camp IV, 169–175; to 25,000 ft. camp on first attempt on Mount Everest, 56–59, 175–203, 211–224; return to Darjeeling, 64–65, 252
Mules, 27, 31, 34
Nepal, Maharajah of, 75, 96, 103
Nepalese language, 33; sheep, 91
Ngangba La, 54
Noel, Captain J. B., 8, 20, 23, 85, 130; at Base Camp, 50, 73–74; to North Col with the party of second attempt on Everest, 237; spends three nights there, 249, 289, 329; explores the Arun gorges, 95, 98–102 (his own account); leaves the main body and goes to Gyantse, 110
North Col, 55; camp on, 57. _See_ Camp IV
Norton, Major E. F., 6–7, 19, 24, 130, 131; to site of Camp I, 230–231; on first reconnaissance, 51–52; first attempt on Mount Everest, 58–59, 173–224; leaves Base camp for Kharta valley, 65, 84, 86; joins the main body, 87, 89, 95; botanical and zoological work, 321–322, 326, etc.
Oxygen, 9–10, 52, 60, 69, 115–117, 231, 235–237, 243, 252–259, 263–266, 291, 294, 303–305
Pang La, 43, 334
Pangli, camp, 105
Pawhunri, mountain, 36
Phari Dzong, 30–31, 33, 111, 131
Pharmogoddra La, 108
Popti La, 92, 103
Porters, 5, 63, 94, 117, 286, etc.
Pou, a cook, 151
Primus stoves, 151, 176
Pumori, mountain, 158, 247
Rapiu La, 152, 168, 171, 236
Rawlinson, Lord, 20
Richengong, Camp, 29
Rongbuk monastery, 43, 73
Rongbuk Lama, 45–47, 74–75, 78, 275
Rongli Chu, 26, 112, 114
Rumoo collector of plants, 322
Sakiathang, Camp, 89–91
Sakia Chu, 102
Samchang La, 89
Sangkar Ri, mountain, 39, 133–137
Sarabjit Thapa, lance-naik, 32
Sedongchen, Camp, 113
Serpo La, 331
Shekar Dzong, 39–41, 105
Sherpas, 33, 54, 63
Shika. _See_ Kharta Shika
Shiling, plain, 107, 136
Shing (= fuel), 52
Sikkim, 25–28, 110, 113, 309–310
Snow-glasses, 263
Somervell, Dr., 7, 10, 19, 130, 167; attempt on Sangkar Ri, 39, 133–137; ascends a 21,000 ft. peak near Base camp, 140; first attempt on Mount Everest (_see_ Mallory), 56–59, 144–224, 301–302; third attempt, 273–286, 308; return to Darjeeling, 96–97, 114. Author of Chapters XII to XIV
Strutt, Colonel E. L., 6, 19; fixes site of Camp I, 230–231; leader of first reconnaissance, 51–53; returns to Camp III and visits North Col, 56–58; return to Darjeeling, 65, 252
Tang La, 32, 34
Tashilumpo, Lama of, 85, 118
Tatsang, village, 39, 110; nunnery, 37
Tea, 177, 223; Tibetan tea, 46, 78
Tejbir Bura, lance-naik, 20, 32, 58; in second attempt on Everest, 62, 234–244, 248, 254–256, 78, 81, 85
Teng, village and camp, 82–85, 96–97
Tibet, 228, 323
Tibetan architecture, 313–314; atmosphere, 79–80, 311; colour, Chap. XIII; coolies, 53–54, 63; fauna, Chap. XV; food, 44; music, 230, 315–318; painting, 314; wind, 165, 228, 332–333; weather, 170
Tinki Dzong, 39, 107–108; pass, 107, 132, 310
Training, 39, 118, 130. _See_ Acclimatisation
Trangso Chumbab, camp, 329
Transport, 143, 168
Trateza, camp, 82
Tsanga, waterfall, 100
Tzampa (= flour), 100
Unna, Mr. P. J. H., 10
Wakefield, Dr., 7, 19, 39, 130; meets the party of the first attempt on Everest, 223, 236; to Camp III with party of third attempt 70, 252, 275, 280
Weatherall, Mr., 20–21
Wheeler, Captain E. O., 4, 147
Wind, 165, 172, 186. _See_ Everest, Tibet
Wind-proof clothing, 59, 62, 117, 255, 259, 264, 266–267
Wollaston, Dr. A. F. R., 322, 326, etc.
Yaru, river, 39, 107, 138
Yatung, 29, 131, 326
Yulok La, 102
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Uniform with “Mount Everest: The Assault.”
MOUNT EVEREST. The Reconnaissance, 1921. By LIEUT.-COLONEL C. K. HOWARD-BURY, D.S.O., AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE EXPEDITION. With 33 full-page illustrations and maps. Medium 8vo. 25s. net. Also a Limited Large Paper Edition, with additional plates in photogravure. Quarto, each copy numbered. £5 5s. net.
“A remarkable contribution to the long and glorious story of British endeavour in the high places of the earth. The whole is a splendid record of clever and courageous enterprise.”—The Times.
“The book under review tells the tale of the doings of last year’s journey, and a notable tale it is, well told, finely illustrated with wonderful photographs, and excellently printed. The accompanying maps enable us for the first time to describe the articulation of the whole mountain region and to replace the vaguely guessed indication of culminations and connexions by a labyrinth of glaciers and ridges, full of meaning to geographers and those for whom the actual shape of the surface of the earth has interest.”—Sir Martin Conway, M.P., in the Manchester Guardian.
“Mr. Leigh-Mallory, who led the climbing party of the Everest expedition, has written in ‘The Reconnaissance of the Mountain’ an epic of mountaineering which deserves to be an abiding possession for all those who have ventured themselves into the silence and desolation of the high peaks.”—Morning Post.
“The book put together by the members of last year’s expedition, more especially the maps and illustrations, makes us envious. Colonel Howard Bury has told his story simply, with evident enjoyment. Mr. Leigh Mallory, who gives us the story of the reconnaissance, is terse and human and never tedious. He tells us exactly what we want to know.”—Mr. Edmund Candler in the Nation.
“The story of the journey and the climbing adventure as told separately by the leader and Mr. Mallory combine to make a narrative of singular variety which sustains its interest to the end, and is agreeably supplemented by the chapters of ‘Natural History Notes,’ contributed by Dr. Wollaston.”—Mr. Douglas Freshfield in the New Statesman.
“As fascinating and picturesque as it is valuable. It will rank with the best of its kind, and is assured of a success that is exceptionally well deserved. It will satisfy both the expert and the casual reader, and there can be nothing but praise for all concerned in it.”—Illustrated London News.
“The book is admirably and enthusiastically written, very finely illustrated, and in every way an ideal record of what will always be considered a classical example of exploration in its first stage.”—Country Life.
“Quite apart from its intrinsic interest it will be of the greatest value to everybody who wishes to appreciate the attempt which is now being made to continue the work and reach the absolute summit of the highest mountain in the world.”—Westminster Gazette.
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LONDON: EDWARD ARNOLD & CO.
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● Transcriber’s Notes: ○ Abbreviated index entries for page ranges (e.g. 12-4 or 127-9) were expanded to allow links to the appropriate pages to be generated for the HTML and ePUB versions. ○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected. ○ Typographical errors were silently corrected. ○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a predominant form was found in this book. ○ Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). ○ The use of a carat (^) before one or more letters shows they were intended to be superscripts, as in S^t Bartholomew or L^{d.} Egemont.