Star.
London, England, 1824-06-23 00:00:00

$ 41:

TIDE MYRIORAMA.
A second series of this ele:;ant publication his made
its appearance. This might have beea expected, from its
being so well calculated to amuse juvenile amateurs ofthe
Fine Arts. Indeed it is not easy to conceive any con-
trivance that can' for an indefini!:e time furnish such a
fund of entertainment to young folks. It consists, as
we stated on the appearance of the first series, of section,
of landscapes on cards, neatly coloured, and so con-
ti ived that any two or three or greater number of them,
placed in any order uhatever, produce an agreeable
picture. To ring- all the thanes (as we might call it)'
on these cards (24 in number) of which they are suscep-
tible would require toiilions of millions of years. It is
therefore well named 7he Myriorning.
DR. BRIs:WSTER'S PIIILOSOPIIICAL JOURNAL

The first Number of this work is now before us, en-
titled The Edinburgh .Tnirnal of .Science. It contains,
as might be expected flora the title, a great variety of
articles. The following
Account of 'Lieutenant Gerard's Ascent al the highest
Peak ever reached by Travellers,
is extracted from a Journal of an Excursion through
the Himalayah Mountains, from Shipke to the frontiers!
of Chinese Tana' y, made in 1818, of which a portion '
is given in this number. The latitude of Shipke is 31°
48' and the longitude 78° 48'. Our enterprising and
intelligent country man, by whom this enterprize was
effected, is Surveyor to the Board of Commissioners,
Lieutenant and Adjutant to the 2d Batt. 13th Regt. of
Native Infantry, on the Bengal Establishment. The
height reached was 19,411 feet.
•" From what we saw yesterday we were convinced
Ire could reach a more elevated spot, and thinking the'
attainment of a great height more desirable than a high
latitude, we resolved to try it again, and rather defer
bur intended journey towards Ludak than let slip such
a favourable opportunity. From our experience of the
slowness with which the perambulator can be rolled
over the large stones, we sent it, to; ether with the large
theodolite, a-head at eight, and moved ourselves at ten
o'clock on the 17th cf October. The road at first was
tolerably good, lying; upon turf, and passing near some
lakes which were frozen over ; latterly it was rocky
and the ascent fatiguing, but not so difficult as yester-
day's. We stopped several times to look out for our
people, but not seeing any sign of them, we dispatched
a man to Nalco, with orders to meet us, and to bring
our bed.clothes, a few bundles of fire wood, and some-
thing to eat, whilst we proceeded on to a kind of break
between two peaks. The last half mile was generally
over snow, and both my brother and I felt completely
debilitated, and were affected with severe headaches and
pains in the ears. The highest vegetation we saw was
a plant with leaves like sage, but without smell, and
brown, from the dryness of the atmosphere. It grows
at the height of 17,000 feet, beyond which elevation
we found no soil.

" At the top of our station, between the peaks, where
we arriveal at four P. M. the barometer shewed 15.075
,inches, which gives the height 18,683 feet. The ther-
mometer, when first taken out of the case was 30°, but
in less than a quarter of an hour it fell to 22° below the
freezing point. After t.,king a few bearings with all
possible haste, we set out Oct our return, and at dark
met our servants with our bed-clothes about lk mile
from Nsko, and halted for the night at the height of
J 3,724 feet, without a tent. Our people had brought
wood, but no flint to strike a light, so we sent them back
to the village for some fire. It was past eleven before
they returned, and during an interval of nearly five
hours we sat shivering, for the the►mometer was 6° be-
low the freezing point, and we had only a couple of
blankets to wrap round us. After we had lighted a
fire we made a large quantity of punch, which we con-
tinued drinking till nearly do in the morning, and 1 do
not recollect anything that ever refreshed me so much.
The length of our match to-day wits about ten miles,
and we ascended 6800 teer, and descended •5000 feet
of perpendicular heiltlit. The people with the peram-
bulator and theodolite missed the way, and did not
arrive till midnight, and their bands and feet were
almost frozen. _ _

....
" The thermometer, at sunrise, ou the 18th October,
was 16 deg. and the cold intense. We could not sleep
much owing to it, for excepting a few sticks which we
'kept for the purpose of preparing breakfast, our fire-
wood was exhausted.

4, We wished much to see the batometer below 15
inches, and determined to make another attempt to
reach the summit of a peak north of our yesterday's
station, which appeared 600 or 700 feet higher. Beirig
now one mile and a half treater to it than before, we
had every hope of succeeding, and therefore sent off
our things as soon as we could prevail upon our people
to move, which was not, however, before nine o'clock.
We were well equipped with instruments for making
all requisite observations; we took with us three baro-
meters, two thermometers, a large theodolite, a small
Dire, a perambulator, a telescope magnifying eighty
times, and a ;mailer one, together with a bundle of
sticks, the ty,iling point of water, and a sextant and ar-
tificial horizon for ascertaining. We marched a little
after ten, and overtook our people not a mile from our
halting place. We had infinite trouble in getting them
to go on, and were obliged to keep bawling out to them
the whole.way, at one time threatening, and at another
• coaxing them. To tell the truth, however, we could
• not have walked much faster ourselves, for we felt a,
fullness in the Lead, and experienced a general debility,
which, together with headaches and pains in the ears and
breast, affected us more than the day before. A cold
wind that benumbed our hands sprung up, and in-
crea'ed with the height, till about three, P. M. when it
died away. After much annoyance we reached the
place where we put up the barometer yesterday. Hese I
the man who carlied the bundle of sticks sat down, and
said he must die, as he could not proceed a step farther,
and neither a souod thrashing nir the promise of a
handsome reward could induce hint to move; we ac-
cordingly left him. and, after an accent of 700 fret, at-
tained the top of the peak, 19,412 feet above. the level
of the sea. The road latterly lay over disunited blocks
of granite, between which wi found large lumps of ice,
t;aiisparent as crystal. We got kip the last ascent with-
out much difficulty, which is somewhat surprising. It
was four, P. M. when we gained the summit, so that we
had not time to make half of the observations we
• wished. The thermometer was not below 22 degrees,
but, owing to the wind on my way up, my hands were
so benumbed that it was not until I had rubbed them'
fol a quarter of an hour that I got the use of them.

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