New-York tribune., 1900-12-15

ceed in hugeness and terror any other noun
tains in the whole world, beside which the
Schreckhorn and the Matterhorn are holiday
playthings Avalanches Of snow or rock, exten-
sive landslides, enormous erevasses, constantly
endanger the ascent. There are perpendicular
walls. not hundreds but thousands Of feet high
and precipices descending into abysses never
lighted by single ray Of sunlight. The color
scheme of these ranges is wonderful beyond
description. OF the great Noon Koon %, 800
feet high. the authors Of the present volume
tell US:
Its base, for about thousand feet above the
valley. had beautiful green covering Of grass
and flowers, which, shading off imperceptibIy
into the red as the vegetation became scantier
harmOnzed most effectively with the latter
Then came zone Of pure cochineal. shooting up
into three rounded SUBMITS. each capped with
glstening snow The contrast of the red with
the green and white. and with the gray and
brown of neighboring mountains was striking
in the extreme.
On the way down from Noon-Koon through
the RangdoOn Valley Mr.. and Mrs Workman
took note of the vegetation. which made as
lovely pattern any artists mind could possi-
bly, conceive or his brush depict. There were
nodding wild pinks. long stemmed dark forget
me-nots. colossal bluebeIls. daisies. pink and
white; orchids. red and yellow; edeIwess. wild
geraniunls. blue and purple coIumbine. purple
aconite, yellow blossomed rhubarb, whose red
other
Flora's favorites besides.
1t was in Sikkim that these explorers OF the
ice world OF Himalaya were Obliged 10 drink 10
the dregs the cup Of coolie 'cussedness" These
native carriers were engaged to accompany Mr.
and Mrs. Workman in expedition toward
Kinchinjanga. They were under the MANAGE
ment. or rather mismanagement Of a sirdar
The coolies were unruly. unpunctuaI and IN
reasonable They struggled. bolted. made havoc
among the stores of food. wore out their thick
gloves and socks intended for cold weather long
before 1t got cold. and at the beginning of the
trip could not be induced to march more than
five miles day. They started when they liked
and stopped when they chose. At midday thew
made sempiternal halts and gorged themselves
with the best they could lay hands on In fact
they were making the most Of a grand oppor-
tunity. The sirdar either possessed or exercised
no control over them. They acted throughout
az If they were tunketing excursion. Fsut
all this pain probably forgotten In the
pleasure of the view which the travellers OBJ
tanned. in one sublime sweep. of the three
great peaks Of Siklxim Tibet and NepaI
Kinchinjanga, Tehumulari and Everest-thar
with its giant sisters rose straight and creanv
from lapis lazuli plinth OF hill and cloud. As
the rising sun gilded the chain and it's rays fell
in golden shower on the plinth the towering
white god of snow seemed to float upward from
a billowy world of mauve vapor."
Mrs. Workman fell into crevasse while ira
yersing Snow Lake. and Zurbriggen, the Swiss
guide TO whom she was roped. had to pull her
out. It should be mentioned that there are NO
professional guides in the Himalayas Zurbrie
sen must have had his talents and endurance
put to the fullest test in the ascent OF Kosen
Gunge. crawling along lodges overhanging the
unfathomable. hacking out steps, lending a haul
here and lift there There was plenty OF dan
gerous escalading. rock gymnastics to be done
and the native carriers had to be eoaxed and
threatened. "Donnerwetter" was the guides fav-
orite menace TO the Kashmir coolies when thew
proved recalcitrant. on the summit the aneroids
registered something like $1,000 feet. and a Their
mometer 10 degrees Fahrenheit. BY ascendine
Kosen Gunge Mrs. Workman achieved the
worlds mountaineering record for women she
is certainly an easy hrst. since she already had
broken all the previous records OF her sex IN,