HIMALAYAN WANDERER

New Zealand Listener, Volume 22, Issue 556, 17 February 1950, Page 13

HIMALAYAN WANDERER

TWO MOUNTAINS AND A RIVER, by 'H. W. Tilman; Cambridge University. Press. English price, 21/-. TICARIOUS adventure is a poor substitute for the real thing, but in an age of substitutes it is acceptable. Many who wish to’ climb in the Himalayas are instead tied to work and families; for them, the next best is to read travellers’ tales of the regions in which their hearts rejoice when their boots cannot. Mr. Tilman has an assured reputation, both as mountaineer and as author. His fine work on Mount Everest as leader and as writer, is a guarantee that whatever he undertakes will have modesty i integrity. His latest book is good. He gives a full and interesting account of experiences that included defeat as an iron-ration. He sees his situations objectively, and where mistakes were made he points the moral, if necessary, at his own expense. ‘The expeditions with which this book is concerned were three, as the title implies. The first was 4n aftempt on Rakaposhi, a 25,000-footer in the Karakorum; the second an attempt on Muztagh Ata, a thousand feet less; and the third a journey fo the source of the Oxus River. This is good measure, even for such an experienced wanderer as Mr. Tilman. The Rakaposhi approach was made with ee

two Swiss mountaineers, and though the party reached 20,000 feet, the failure to climb higher was decisive, for which Mr. Tilman blames himself for trying too early in the season. However, various routes were attempted, and the knowledge gained will no doubt help some future party to success on this virgin summit. His next objective, Muztagh Ata, was in Sinkiang, and he made his climb with Eric Shipton, a former Everest companion, stationed as British Consul at Tashkurghan. They turned it in when only a short distance from the top, and were beaten. as much as anything by intense cold and bad conditions. The. return to India via Afghanistan was made without the company of any European, and involved difficulties culminating in close arrest. Al] these things were done in 1947. The technical descriptions of mountain obstacles overcome and not overcome ‘are clear and informative, the lives of the strange peoples with whom he meets are recorded with a sensitive understanding, and his own trials and errors ara@used to evoke genuine humour salted with much erudite quétation. All in all, this is a very satisfying book, and will make local horizons seem low and life very tame for its New Zealand readers. Though some of, the illustrations are memorable, others fail to support the mastery of the text, and the publishers were ill-advised to reproduce many of them as small as 21% inches by 1%]

inches.

John

Pascoe