A STRANGE PEOPLE.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 December 1921, Page 5

A STRANGE PEOPLE.

WHERE DEAD ARE NOT BURIED. WONDERS OF EVEREST. By Telegraph.—Press Assn Copyright. Received Dec. 16, 5.5 p.m. London, Dec. 15. Mr. Howard Bury, interviewed regarding his experiences with the Mount Everest expedition, supplied interesting and curious details. He said the people do not bury their dead. Butchers living in special villages dismember the bodies and throw them to birds of prey, and if the birds are not quickly attracted it is assumed it is a case of a thoroughly bad life. The people suffer much from ophthalmia cataract, owing to wind and dust. They permit themselves one bath yearly in hot springs. Women smear their faces with grease and soot as a protection against the weather. Polyandry is practised, the wives of a family of brothers being held common, and the eldest brother is regarded as the father of all the children.

The scenery in the Kawa Valley is the finest in the world. Cliffs show ten thousand feet of most luxuriant vegetation and forests, while the air is so clear that visibility extends for a hundred miles. The exploration of Mount Everest is suitable only to young menphysically fit. The heat, even at a height of 20,000 feet is intense in sum-mer-time. The moment the sun rises it draws out all energy even in October, and the mercury falls to zero at night-time.—Aus.-N-Z. Cable Assn.