The Washington herald., 1907-12-22

London, Dec. a--Reuters representa-
tive has had an interview with Dr.. Tom
c. Longstaf1. who has Just returned 20
England on the conclusion Of an interest
ing expedition In the Hlmalayas. The
chief feature OF this journey. which last
ed six months. was the ascent OF TrisuI
| (25. .4oS feet) this being the first occasion
on which this mountain has been at
tempted DR.. Longstan said:
The expedition consisted Of Mai. the
Hon. c. G. Bruce, Fifth Ghurka Rifles;
A. L. Mumm, late secretary OF the Alpine
Club. and myself We had with Us two
Italian guides one Swiss guide. native
officer Of the Fifth Ghurkas. and eight
rihemen Of the same regiment. Originally
the object Of our journey was 70 attempt
the ascent of Mount Everest from the
Tibetan side; but for political reasons We
found this 10 be Impossible, the home
government having forbidden any tray
elers 70 cross the frontier Our plans
were subsequently, changed, and we de-
cided TO go TO the Central Himalayas, %
Carnival and from that point 10 attempt
TrisVI, which 1 had reconnOitered in 1sC5-
On 10 the Mountains
I'VE Immediately started on our jour
ney. marching through the foothills for a
distance Of 100 miles 10 the mouth OF the
Rishi Valley. the only possible route for
reaching our objective, the giant noun
tain TrisuL We proceeded by the valley
for four marches, which consisted Of D
! series Of steep aseents and descents
! across the various ravines. Camping at
/ 1850 feet, on the edge OF the tree line,
We sent our coolies back TO their villages.
there being no food whatever for them i
/ the valley After this we had 10 carry
our own loads and provisions
I'VE now began the actual ascent of
! the mountains. After TWO marches along
/ the TrisuI glacier we started up the
! Snow slopes Of the mountain OF June Z.
Z and that evening reached a height Of So
I coo feet. Our tents were placed On an
/ absolute desert Of snow. Here we had
( to spend two nights. the wind and snow
/ preventing any attempt on the peak. We
I remained huddled up in our tents II was
| impossible 70 stay outside. and equally
/ impossible 10 melt snow for drinking pC--
poses The wind also was 50 high that
/ the stoves would not work. and, Of
/ course, We could not light them IN cur
tents. which were only feet 6 inches
high.
4 Terrible Experience.
During this period had by far the
worst experience in my foreign travels
I On the third day, there being no sign
I Of improvement. we We're forced 70 de-
scend 10 the foot OF the mountain, and
again eamped at 100 feet Owing 10
the hardships and bad food. Nj Mumn
i became seriously indisposed. and. greatly
10 my disappointment, was unable TO Join
me in a further attempt 70 reach tie
summit.
AT go On the morning of June i,
with two Italian guides. Subsdar Karbir
and myself left the camp and marched
rapidly along CVr old track. camping
the same afternoon on the snowhelds
oI Trisul. this time AT a height OF j 80
feet. for ! had decided that our best
4 chance OF reaching the summit was 70 en-
de2vor 10 rush the ascent from a compar-
I atively low camp. On the following
morning We tried 20 leave ar I O'Clock.
but the intense cold drove Us back 70 our
sleeping bags.
We started al $50 a H.. and five
hours later reached our highest camp OF
29,e10 feet IN the height Of a cold westerly
cred with snow and ice, We're ahead. we
roped ourselves together. and at noon
reached 100 feet At this time I felt
the cold more severely than ever. The
Il slopes, too. were very steep, and at times
I was rendered almost breathless. Ny
Il companions, however. showed 10 III ef-
fects from the altitude. our boards and
mustaches were masses Of ice We were
now following the narrow north-nor-h-
~T.T Of
70 the summit, and gradually as we ap-
preached the top all the neighboTius
mountains except Nanda Devi sank be-
meath Us
Fifteen Minutes on Summit.
The magnificent southern cliffs Of this
mountain were almost bare Of SNOW.
owing 10 the steepness. At p. m. after
ten hours continuous climbing. we reach
ed the summit; but ahead was an over
hanging cornice. and until I looked over
this / could not be satisfied that we had
actually attained the highest peak Of TIE
mountain. The cold was so bitter that We
found il only possible 20 remain Tor III
teen minutes
The view from this point was 10 ne
quite indescribable II seemed ike look
ing into infnity. or the south, thousands
hills of kUmaon- Here a remarkable ef-
feet was produced by great masses Of
cOppeF-colored haze. due 10 q dust storm
which was blowing from the plains.
ITO the west the view was one OF ex-
/ traordinary vastness. rs the horizon ex-
tended over the whole OF the lower
Carnival and the snow peaks beyond. To
the north lay the Tibetan frontier OBJ
scured by rolling masses Of black cloud
To the east were the frOwning cliffs OF
Nanda Devi and its untrOdden glaciers.
Having planted a small flag, made out
Of a piece of the tent. We hurriedly COM
menced the descent This began al 4:3a.
but I was so done up that remember
very little OF what Immediately followed.
AS darkness was fast closing IN We push
ed on with all speed. and at 7:30 reached
camp. The weather. however was still
SO bad that tired as We all were. We
had to move our tents 200 feet farther
down the mountain in order 10 find a 1t
tie shelter. The next day We rejoined
Mr.. Mumm and Mai. Bruce. who had
come in at the foot Of the mountains"