New-York tribune., 1903-02-22

hard earned dinner over there was the sIeeI
among SHOWS lighted with stars blazing II tn,
clearest of skies. If the campfire went out. al
one awOke with his sleeping bag covered with
hoar frost. that was to be taken as evIdencs
of the unapproachable soundness of the noun
tain sIumber. Cold, relentless winds. thot coUL
not be evaded and seemed to slip under al
/ night. matter what eXpedient Of protection
tried, could sometimes dispute this rest
/ Occasionally night would come down befOrr
! the proper camp had been reached. and Their
would be nothing to do but go hounderinl
stubbornly in the deceiving light. Indeec
the LofOten Islands commended IN this boot
/ because of their arctic night, by which tn
climber is secured from the desertion Of the
Tobacco cheered and contented the author
one of these night experiences
During our wild nocturnal wanderings, frs
down the Mazeno, and then down the Rupa
glacier where in the dim candlelight and il
/ a semi-cOnscious condition slipped, tumble'
and fell, but always with one dominant idea
namely, we must go on!-that pipe continueC
to help What cared 1 though Hastings
growled?-he does not smoke!-Or whethe-
poor Mummery groaned aloud he steppec
I into icy pools Of water? SO We stumbled fran
/ tically forwards, the vast wilderness Q.
stones and ice: and I remember, We grOpeo
our way onwards 1 must have fallen hall
asleep for I could not get of my mind that
there hut a small hotel at the top 0;
the Mazeno La and that for our sins we hat
Deen doomed 10 wander forever II LnlS ulSInd
and waste land of cold and darkness willis
rest and food were foolishly left behind.
The HimaIayas stand in no danger Of having
their charms degraded by the too frequent tour
ist for long periods to come. They. are far dis
tant from the island home of climbing clubs
and when reached present the most df1cul;
work of the sort to be found It is compare
lively recently that men have taken 10 amusing
themselves in such energetic and exhilaratfne
fashion With the development of the sporF
there has grown taste for more arduous tasks
that lead the mountaineer far afeId- In thl'
he has an advantage over the wanderer Of az
earlier day, to whom the difficult climbs re
mained closed. But he is, as the author points
out, in danger of missing the worthy delights
which are attained with less daring and exer-
ton by this quest for the extraordinary. The
expert of to-day is warned against spending a.
his time in mere gymnastics Of the pure ath-
Ietics of mountaineering"
All this being true. it seems incomprehensIb'
that Ireland should not be looked upon more
fayorabIv as a possible mountaineering country
I am afraid that nowadays, however, unless
considerable amount of rock gymnastics car
be made part of a climb, the modern noun
taineer is not satisfied. Merely beautiful seen
cry is insufficient to lure him to the mountains
Still as Mr.. Hart says, Kerry and Donega-
are good training grounds for the novice. 1hls
1 vouch for; the cliffs OF Sieve League
1872 feet, form one of the finest sea cllffS II
the British Isles and much of the best scenery
amongst the Macgillicuddys Reefs can only be
obtained by those who are willing to do somt
rock Scram bling.
In the Canadian Rocky Mountains the char
acteristfc feature perhaps is the difficulty Of
reaching the bases of the mountains to be as
cended This decreases the region becomes
better known and the author refers with evl-
dent regret to the fact that the country is being
mapped and the peaks named. The luxurian
and stubborn underground in the forests and th'
snarl of twisting channels and lakes in the rive
valleys made progress slow. The forests ar
denser on the western side Of the Divide
In the valley Of the Columbia itself dowr
which we travelled in 1900 from Donald t.
Bush River, for several days we hardly saw th'
Sky The vast forest far surpassed IN size any
thing we had seen the other side Of th'
ranse-huge pines cottonwood trees frs an6
spruces reaching to a height of 100 feet or more
The underground, toe, was very dense-cedal
white maple and alder (neaT the streams) Wet'
found whilst the fallen trunks Of dead trees
sometimes six eight feet in diameter. la
scattered with others of lesser size in every kinf
Of position Some in their fall had been ar
rested by others. and were waiting for the frs
gale TO bring them crashing TO the grounC
whilst at the will of every breeze that WANDERED
through the upper branches of the higher tree,
these half fallen monarcEs of the forest WOul6
break the heavy stiffness of the air by thel
complaints and grOanS against their more sturd'
brethren for thus preventing them lying q
peace upon the moss covered ground below.
This narrative Of tramp and ascent Is mad
ga eiar IN FOLLOW bv several mans and OUtlIn.