, 1890-11-13
WOMEN AS CLIMBERS
Feats of Mountaineerino
Accomplished.
CROSSING THE HINDU KUSH
A Woman in the First Party Tha,
Ever Gained Access to
This Region.
New York SUM-

Several women have won con.
siderable distinction during the Inst
few months In the way of mount.
ain climbing. Mount Clarence. tho
great summit on the island of For,
nando Po, near the west coast n,
Africa, was recently assembled bv
German traveller and his wife who
passed unscathed among the Buba
villages that have been such a ter.
ror to all explorers. These peonla
have been regarded as n mysterious
people simply because they were not
known. Several men have tried In .
vain to penetrate to the central Dor!
ton of the island and ascend Mount
Clarence, but European woman
was in the first party that got to the
top.
Another remarkable journey, Of
which news has just come, Is that
of Mrs. Llttledale and her husband
who have crossed the great central
Asiatlc range of the Hindu Kush.
Here are the loftiest peaks of the
globe, though this chain of mount.
aims, which IL woman has now
helped to conquer, has attracted lea,
attention than the Himalayan range
lying to the east on account of lts
inaccesslbllity and the supposed hos.
tillty of the tribes. The only ex.
plorers who have been in this region
are native Indian surveyors, sent
out by the Indian government in
the guise of peddlers and merchants,
and we have depended upon their
reports for our information about
this country.
1t Is not yet known how Mr.. and
Mrs. Littledale succeeded I'm getting
over these mountains, but u tele-
gram from Calcutta announces that
their journey has been safely COM
pleted. They crossed the mountains
at u point little northwest of Cash.
mere. This is undoubtedly the lirst
time in Central Asia that a white
woman was with the party which
did the pioneer exploring IN re.
gion that was supposed to be mac
cessible to white men.
The most remarkable woman
climber OF the last year il Miss Meme
Dowie, an advouturesome Scotch
girl, who spent last summer travel.
ing alone among the Carpathan
mountains I'm the northeast part Of
Austro-Hungary, on horseback and
on foot, with no companion except
the peasant who attended her. For
ten weeks In this wild region she
lived among the Galician peasantry,
conforming entirely to their ways Of
life. Night after night when up In
the high mountains she slept in the
open air, wrapped only in cloak.
She had reason to know now and
then in her solitude that wildcats,
bears and wolves exist in considera.
ble number In the Carpathians, and
are rather more curious TO find out
all about stranger than was com.
Portable for her. But she says there
is no real obstacle to "A girl travelling
alone from London to the Russian
frontier.
Probably not one girl in 10000,
however, would think there was
any fun in travelling as Miss Dowle
did. She seldom wore shoes while
climbing the mountains, for they
were slippery, and she found she
could ascend IA steep slope in greater
comfort barefoot, with her footgear
slung around her neck. She met
with a number Of accidents, and
was very nearly drowned once while
bathing. But she returned home
very brown and healthy and very
enthusiastic over her unique sum.
mer tour. She says she is going
back to Galicia again, but she hopes
that her description of the journey
VIII not induce any other girl to iol-
low her example, Tor the hardshin
OF the journey, she thinks, would in
most cases more than offset It's
pleasant and romantic features.
she says no one can travel among
this mountain peasantry without
believing that Poland will one day
be on her feet again. The people
cling to their love of the old natiOn-
ality and have unshaken faith that
Poland will ono day again wear its
crown.
This yohng lady recently read
paper on her summers adventures
before. the British Association. The
paper showed how admirably
young lady may study geography,
for 1t was full Of interesting informa-
tlon, and the great geographer,
ltavensteln, said, in moving II vote
of thanks, that Miss Dowie was
more entitled to be called real
geographer than many of those who
went much further afield.
In our own White mountains not
II few ladies perform feats of mount.
aineering which u good many OF
their brethren do not care to under
take. Some people who have gone
up Tuckerman's ravine and foupu
their feet Weighing fifty pounds
apiece at the top have wondered tnas
any woman should attempt tnis
hardest of Mount Washington
climbs; but for weeks at II time ID
the season hardly II day elapses that
one or more ladies do not make TINS
ascent, clambering in the laet l,OW
feet over bare rocks where the route
Is Indicated only by daubs OF white
paint. A few ladies have also maao
the journey over the northern peaks
to the top of Mount Washington,
while any number of them have
travelled along the bridle-path Lead
Ing from the Tiptop house to Cfaw, 3
ford's. Every season sees quite
tNs t.lN ..F L.