New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-07-09
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

MoUNTA1NEERING IN COLORADO. BY Frederick
II. Chaplin Illustrated. limo. PIP. 1877. Boston
The Appalachian Mountain Club.
An account Of mountain climbing Which bears
the imprimatur Of the Appalachian Club requires
no other guarantee far its purely noun
tainecrng merits are concerned and MIR. Chaplin
excellent photographs attest his skill in another
direction There are books which for in,crcs; Of
personal adventure must indeed he put before THIS
volume, such Clarence Kings Mountaineering
in the Sierra Nevada comparison with Mr..
King is however not altogether fair for few eN-
plorers and mountaineers equal him in charm of
description, humor and picturesqueness; ana Then
he seems TO have encountered specially dramatic
and sensational adventures. There Is an episode
in mountain gymnastics in his book which Tor
vividness is scarcely TO be surpassed; but few
men, however well prepared for emergencies IAN
in with such hair-stirring experiences, ana iewer
still when they do encounter similar dangers
know how 70 describe them with the necessary
vieor and precision. The sketches Drought To-
Cether here by Mr. Chaplin relate to the peaks
about Estes Park and the illustrations, nadc
directly from negatives taken by the author In
his various expeditions add greatly 10 the interest
of tne narrative. Several Of the peaks climbed
by Mr. Chaplin were first visited by him, and ne
had tie satisfaction of discovering more than one
hitherto unknown glacier.
The mountaineering about Estes Park is plainly
not for dilettante climbers 1t involves great
deal of prolonged hard work, and some danger
though apparently less than is encountered else
where. The glaciers are little disturbed by Gre
vases in this region. and though occasionally
snow-bridges have TO be crossed under risky con-
ditions the greater part of the woIk seems to
consist in toilsome struggles over boulder-strewn
slopes There are many wild animals in these
remote and practically inaccessible helgh's, anu
here the mountain sheep has made one OF his last
retreats Mr.. Chaplin, aided by the strong curl
osity of the big -hOrns was enabled TO photograph
a group of the shy creatures at a comparatively
short distance and his account of the intense eA-
element which the opportunity "ccaSloned Is
amusing. No hunter he says. could nave oeeh
more aritated upon first finding himself within
range of a difficult quarry than were the climbers,
innocent of all sIaughterous intentions, ana oeht
only upon securing pictures of the game. besloes
the big-horn the Colorado mountains lodge plenty
of bears. chiefly brown and cinnamon, with
snrinklinr of grizzlies With one of the latter
Mr. Chapin ana a companion had an e> perience
wbirb speaks more for their courage than their
discretion Mr. Chaplin was entirely unarned, ana
his friend had only old shotgun loaoed Win
buckshot. The grizzly appeared suddenly on the
rnountain-side some little distance above them.
and stood looking at them for some time IN an
unpleasantly doubtful manner. Instead OF re-
treating the men held their ground, and the one
with the gun actually approached nearer TO me
bear. The latter fortunately for them coneIuded
n withdraw. but when he had gone some distance
tlcv fired at him and some of the shot struck MIN
They were in luck that day, for Bruln oniF
fastened his departure; but playing such tricks
unon bears-even upon the common brown bear
NAV result seriously for the experimenters at any
time.
The record Of Mr. Chapns Estes Park en-
braces expeditions to Longs Peak Mount haile'''
Table Mountains, Mummy Mountain Epsilon
Peak named by the author. Hagues Peak ana
Stones Peak In an appendix is given partial
Gst of plants growing in Estes Park MI
Chapin is so accustomed to mountaineering rhat
he makes little account Of those personal detals
which for the general reader usually consttu'e
the most fascinating portion of such narratives
peyhaps. too the fact that these papers were
originally written for the Appalachian CIup may
have necessioated the omission of what is, OIL
aourse. only too familiar to the veteran noun
saineer. More of this personal description would
have been welcome. but the book is interesting as
Il "a and with the vivid and beautiful liiustra-
lions makes an excellent record of bold and sue
cessful mountain work.