MOUNT EVEREST.

Hokitika Guardian, 30 August 1921, Page 1

MOUNT EVEREST.

INITIAL DIL-TKTLTIKS. DK ATI I OF 01! K I'M.LAS. WKLI.INOTON. August 20. By this tiiti*' the expedition arranged !) V tin? Loyal < leogmphieal Society and liic Alpine Club to Mount Everest is no doubt w. ll within the fastnesses tl-’-t guard tin- ;ijjproiu-li to tile northern slopes ol' the giant numiitain. All tills ground his not been gaug'd without overeouiing nuiiiv dillifiilUes, sonic of which were met with at the tciv start of the expedition. In the ‘ Geographical .laurtial” which is Lo hand by yesterday's mail." some details are given of these diflieulties. To begin with, tin' death of Or Kellis, at Kampa Dzong. on done oLh., was a serious loss lo the parlv. Though over lirtv vears of age. he was possessed in a remarkable degree of the power of mountain travel Alter he had accepted the invitation to form one of the party, lie had continued his high climbs in the ITimulava and with foil'- Sherpns had made the first ascent of the fine peak of Narsingh, 111,130 feet. During the last fortnight in April lie had also made a sustained attack on Knbru. on which | u , had reached the comparatively easy snow below the final peaks a about ‘M .000 feet, whence In* was compelled to return for lack of time, lie soon afterwards joined the Everest expedition, hut appal cully be tell a vietun to bis own enthusiasm, for he could not have allowed himself the necessary rest and good feeding between the . strenuous journeys lie bad been making almost without pause since his . attempt to climb Kamet in the previous autumn. Members of the expedition wiv hampered hv delay to the steamers by which they travelled to India. Mr h'arbnrn. who reached Dnripeling soon after the midd! ’ of \pril had been abb' to collect a good number of Slierpa coolies, several of whom "came from n village just south-west of Mount Everest, and had been north of ihe mountain as far as Tingri. The expedition thought it self most fortunate in being r.Mo lo gel the loan of a hundred mules for transport from the fioveniment of India and the importance of getting the v best selection had been stressed. It n, great disappointment, therefore. fiml that the moles supplied vero soft

and quite unaccustomed to work in tbe bills, with the result that the transport had broken down badlv only a few days out from Darjeeling. After five days they were scarcely in a condition to carry their own gear, and it became necessary to hire local animals to replace them. Though the Government of India lent the mules, the expedition was liable for considerable expense for such items as field allowance, separation allowance, outfit etc. Apparently the * committee of the Society did not realise in the first instance that they would have to meet so many charges. Even • n they learnt that they had to hi:e a hundred mules to lend to the Government to replace those lent to the expedition, it was still possible to think with satis faction how much superior fL-venim.-iR mules must be to those hired to replace them. But when the committee learnt that still another hundred mules muG be hired to replace the broken-down transport, it became a matter for humorous consideration how much the loan of Government transport would eventually cost the expedition. In spite of nil transport and wc-ath difficulties, we already know fiom t 1 cablegrams received that- the expeditio: l has made remarkable progress.

The "Journal” contains an obitun 1 v notice of Dr Kolias, which ci Deludes those words: “A great mountaineer ami an excellent friend lies buried at Kanipn Dzong, in sight* of the great mountain he had Imped to climb. Alav the part" that lias gone forward without him b» able to leave him word on their lion ward passage of the success which he ■* served so well to share.”