The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1875-05-20
The Highest Mountain in the World.

The Highest Mountain in the World.
For many years past Mount Everest, in that
portion of the great Himilaya range which oc-
cupies the western part of the strange kingdom
of Nepaul, Immediately north of India, has
been regarded as the highest mountain in the
world. 1t is known to the Nepaulese as Gau.
risankar, but the English named it Everest, in
honor of a distinguished officer of the British
Indian typographical survey Its snow capped
summit is 29,002 feet, or nearly FIVE miles and
a half, above the level of the sea. Of course no
one has ever ascended it to this height, but its
altitude, like that of the other lofty peaks of
the Himilaya, was ascertained by triangula>
tion and until the present time it has not
been supposed that any higher land existed on
the earth.
If the news be true, however, which has late
ly come to us from the more distant East, there
is a loftier peak than Mount Everest in the
great island of Papau or New Guinea. This
vast region, extensive enough to form six States
as large as New York, is as yet almost wholly
unexplored, except along its coasts Lying
close to the equator, where the Indian Ocean
and the Pacific meet, it is the home of the cas-
sowary and the bird of paradise, country
grand in its scenery, rich in its vegetation, and
abounding in curious and beautiful forms of
animal life-the veritabe wonderland of the
globe. An attempt to explore the unknown
interior of the island was made from Torres
Strait, which separates it from Australia, by
Capt. j. A. Lawson, in the year 1872; and If
we may believe his published narrative of the
journey, which has just appeared in London,
he advanced several hundred miles inland, and
about midway between the north and the south
coasts discovered a mountain 32,7S3 feet high,
which he named Mount Hercules.
The height of this mouDtain-over six miles
is not the only remarkable thing about it.
actual elevation for, instead of rising from
table land like the plateau of central Asia, it
stands in comparatively low plain only about
two thousand feet above the ocean, and this
gives clear rise of more than 10000 feet above
the surrounding country. The traveller stand
ing at its base could look up and see its snowy
peak towering 10000 feet skyward from where
he stood. Under such circumstances the alti
tude of a mountain is appreciated.
Captain Lawson tells US that be undertook
the ascent, formidable as it appeared. He did
not reach the top, but we believe the achieve
ment which he relates is unparalleled in the
records Of mountaineering. Accompanied by
one servant, he set out from the foot at four
o'clock in the morning. They passed through
dense forests in the first two thousand feet of
perpendicular progress, found the limit of tree
growth at eleven thousand feet, and by nine
o'clock had reached point fourteen thousand
feet above the sea level-almost as high rs the
famous Matternhorn. A thousand feet higher
was the snow line, and they began to suffer
began to overcome them. Nothing was visi-
bic but snow of the most dazzling whiteness.
Every peek and crag was covered with it, and
it hung over the edges of the cliffs in long
heecy masses" Their eyes were affected by
the glare, and they felt themselves growing
more and more lethargic.
eat length blood began to flow from our
noses and ears" says Capt. Lawson, "and my
head ached in distracting manner. saw
that our only chance of preserving life was to
retreat without delay; for we were in a pitiful
plight. Our lips and gums and the skin of
our hands and faces were cracked and bleed
ing, and our eyes were bloodshot and swollen
to an alarming extent The thermometer had
sunk to twenty-five degrees below the freezing
point, and the air was so rarefied that we were
gasping rather than breathing. Our .staves
fell from our grasp, and we could not pick
them up again, so benumbed were our arms
and hands. 1t was now one o'clock, and the
greatest elevation we had attained was 25,314
feet"
Lucy lUcu LuTHeu UdCk, ueSCeNueu W Iilc
limit of the snow in three hours, and arrived
at their camp at the base of the mountain
about half past seven in the evening. Thus,
in fifteen hours and half, they had ascended
an absolute height of $4,000 feet, to an eleva-
tion which we believe is greater than any ever
before attained by man upon the surface of
the earth, athoug h baloonists have OCCASION
ally gone higher.
These are wonderful stories, and the reader
may desire to know whether we altogether
trust in their authenticity and accuracy The
fresh, spirited, and interesting narrative in
which we have found them is published by
one of the most respectable firms in London,
and is put forth as genuine book of tray-
els. The authors account of the fora, the
fauna, and the inhabitants of New Guinea,
contains much that is marvellous, and that
certainly has hitherto been unknown andGn-
suspected. Some Of his statements, also, are
difficult to reconcile with our previously ac-
quired knowledge concerning the island. I'm
der these circumstances, his narrative is likely
to be regarded much as we should view the
testimony of a single, strange witness to a
startling fact: we do not disbel;eve it, but we
should like to hear some corroborative evil
dence. This will probably be afforded by
subsequent explorations. y Sun.
COMMERCE AND THE PRESS, the 107th