West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1884-11-07
THE SUMMIT OF THE EARTH.

loSI Nhlch the guides call "prosrpvt
toint, whose summit affords y WON
deri'l view OF the SURROUNDING high-
IahuS You can. see the Berkshire Hills
ana inc rocky weSt-shOrc OF tho Hud-
SON ana Tar in the north the blue
heights oI the Adirondacks with tho
uon'e-lko summit oi Mount Maroy, the
nlShest mountain in the State of New
lofk' AT sunrise the top OF that dome
oilen looms like huge blue cloud above
the maze OF the horizon, and consider
lhg IT'S distance from the CatskIlls. IL
seems strange that the hcinht of such n
lofty summit is hardly ono.fourth of tbc
altitude attained by several extinct vol b.
canoes in tho Sicrras OF Eastern Cali
fornia
ln Central Asia, however, there l. .
mountain whose elevation exceeds that
OF the highest California peaks by not
less than twelve thousand feet, and
whose top, if it could bc tranSporlod tn
New York, would towor above the
ridge OF the Adirondacks Ike tan
pine-trce above n colipicc OF hawthorn
and hazel bushes. Mount Everest the
Enghsh surveyors have named that
summit Of the earth, but the native. call
II the Nunaghtr-thc Abode OF Lioh. "
oecaus" the morning sun glds It's crest
iull hour before the first glmmer.ng.
OIL dawn reaches the valleys OF the foot
hIHs. The best view of its gigantic
peak eau be obtained from tho TO ks
above the defile OF Kasl,ap. which
crosses the main ridge of the Himalaya
ON the road from Thibet 10 Northern
India.
The llimal0ya foothills are clothed
win forests OF sago- o-palms, mangos and
other tropical trees; eight thousand feet
nigher up the vegetation resembles that
OF Northern Canada, and where the last
dwarf pines dwindlc to mere shrubs
inc traveller is still several thousand
feet below the highest point of the pas ..
But that height itself is only a halfway
STATION OF the snow region; where tiers
Oi ICY precipices rise from the tablcland
up to n idge that stretches away to the
east, and eliminates in slupendous
double pyramid OF everlasting snow,
the twin-summit oi the Nunaghir.
Scar the deGle of kashan there /, a
! little dagakhund, or mounta n-housc.
wberc travellers can obtain food and
shelter, and where English tourists oft
| en- spend few days 10 enjoy prospcct
that ia supposed 10 be the grandcst
mountain-view of the Eastern Cont
nent To the north the highlands of
turRistan, Afghanistan and Thibet are
~ full view; in the west the valley of
the Upper Indus and its tributaries.
which, according to the Indian tradi-
ton, were the five rivers OF Paradise.
In the east the snowy crcsts OF the Him
aiayas arc isible for distance OF sew
eral hundred miles and i'm the south
the terrace land OF Northern India ex-
| tends like boundless ocean OF undu-
iating hills toward the plain of the
coast of the Arabian Sea.
On clear day one can see the tow
ers OF Pcshawar in the valley of the In.
! dus. The height of Mount Everest
| above the bottom OF the valley i, about
| twenty eight thousand feet, or more
than five English miles, So that pole
| five miles long, if YOU could plant IL
| bolt upright would lust about reach
( up To the level Of the Nunaghir That
| same pole would reach 10 the bottom OF
| the deepest sea, for IL is strange facs
that the greatest depth Of the ocean cor
| responds almost exactly TO the greatest
| elevation o. tho mountains Of this earth.
But il a nation Of giants could build a
/ flight OF stairs from tho foothills 10 the
| Greet OF Mount Everest 10 would take n
| traveller at least three days TO climb up
TO the top, for that staircase would be
| seycnty-iivc miles long and contain
! about half a million steps.
The native lligh,auders have learned
! to estimate attitudes by the color OF the
! sky At the height Of fifteen thousand
! feet the hue oil thc Ornament is a dccp
| reid sh-blup, higher up IL lie ONES
| slate-cOlDicd and 90 last almost black.
| Tor Che blush tinge Of the sky is due
| % the presence of moisture in the air.
| On the ridge Of the Himalayas the al
| mOsphere is so dry that timber never
! rots, and the monks oil the Buldhistic
| converts can preserve the bodies Of
| their doad without embalming them.
In looking down from HIGH noun
tain upon large plain the elevation
con also be estimated by the extent of
! the view, for with every thousand ieet
| upward The visible horizon recsl,
! about fifty English miles. 90 that n per
sOn standing on the top of Mount Evor-
e., whore 40 mountain ON earth could
| ob-truct biz yicw, would have r. look.
/ oUt Of nearly ono thousand five hundred
miles i'm every direction Looking for
ward and backward by turns he could
see (oply in dim outlines, OF coursc) re-
piOns as remote from each Other as tho
tlty Of Now York from the City Ol
Me c,iCO. the boundaries OF bis horizon
would enclose an area Of eighty thou
! sand uatc league. Such mountain
ranges as the Mexican Scrras would
look like algcd rocks two miles be-
icath his feet. The European Alps like
low foothills. aDd thc Adirondack
would seem 60 blend with The uudula-
tious of Tire plain
Bu u reality mo- human being has
ever reached that summit OF ihc
/ EartlT nor any height within Sis thou
sand iccJ oft 10. The steopucss of thc
peak H NOT thc Chief ohstablc. for with
ropc and icc-aNcs Che travellers in
Switzerland manage to climb mp almost
perpendicular 1rccipiacs, bIt ai an Gle.
NatIon Cf twenty thousand feet above
/ The sca towel the air ia go thiu that
breathing becomes vcy difficult. Pco.