El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-05-07

machine go straight upward for more
than two miles you would not yet
reach the altitude Of Kunchinjanga. II
is more than a mile and a half higher
than Mount Mckinley, the giant of
Alaska, and Mount Everest, a thousand
feet above it, caps the world.
1 have seen all of the greatest noun
tains of the globe. AS a boy 1 walked
across the Alps from italy to Switzer-
land and climbed the glaciers of Mount
Blanc. Later I visited almost every
part of our Rocky mountain plateau,
and during trips to Asia saw the mighty
hills OF Hawaii and the Philippines. AS
a newspaper correspondent 1 travelled
through the Andes from Panama to
Patagonia, and 1t was only a year or
so ago that I was writing letters for
you on the highlands OF Africa under
the shadows of Mount Kenia and Mount
Kiliman jaro.
Of all the great heights, I find the
Himalayas the most difficult to des
cribe- Their grandeur is oppressive and
their immensely beyond human concep-
ton. And still, they are not the most
beautiful. The finest of the worlds
mountains in point Of form and SYM
metry are Fujiyama, IN eastern Japan;
Mount Cook, in northern New Zealand;
MOUNT MONOn, the CDl6l NOlCd1AO VI
southern Luzon, and our own Mount
Tacoma, on the shores Of Puget Sound
AS to glaciers, those OF the Himalayas
are greater than the ice rivers of the
Alps. They surpass in size the glaciers
of New Zealand, and, 1 doubt not, those
of Alaska as well. There are glaciers
here which are from 80 to so miles
long, and one in particular which is 50
miles in length and thanked on either
side by giant peaks, each more than
five miles in height These glaciers
are mountains of ice, often as ragged
and rugged as the snow-capped peaks
hanging over them.
Above the Clouds.
The Himalayas might be called the
father of India. They protect the coun-
try, and it is largely due to them that
il is able to support one-fifth OF the
human race. They extend like mighty
wall across Hindustan, shutting it out
from the rest of Asia This wall is
intensely cold, and against it come the
warm winds loaded with the moisture
of the Indian ocean. AS they strike 1t
the moisture condenses and falls down
in floods, watering the great plains be-
low There is no place on the globe
which has such a rainfall as parts OF
the Himalaya mountains. Here at OAR
feeling it is more than 500 inches a
wear. and there are other regions where
there are so feet o. rain every II
months.
These winds keep the greater part of
the mountains enveloped in clouds, and
this adds to the beauties Of the scenery.
The Himalayas have a thousand clouds
where the Alps have one, and as you !
ride through them you see clouds Of all
kinds and shapes chasing each other
over the hills. They crawl up the sides
of the valleys, they climb to your feet
and wrap themselves around you. For
10 minutes the mist is SO thick that you
can hardly see the ears Of the horse you
are riding. Then all at once you burst
out into the open A cloud has gone by
and it floats up toward the SHOWS
In my ride to Tiger Hill I had clouds |
above and below me, and 1 could see the
ghostly masses of vapor resting in the
hollows as though taking a siesta. AS
the sun came up it tinged them with
fire, spotting the mountains with gold. |
At the same time there were opalescent |
clouds at my right and my left, and |
clouds overhead, above which, at the |
breaks. the snowy peaks could be seen. |
On the Maintain Railway.
In coming here from Calcutta, 1 rode /
most of the way through the clouds. |
The sun was at its hottest when we |
passed out of the plains of the Gauges |
and came to the foot Of the mountains. |
The way up was all lights and shad |
ows. Now the sun shone, and now the |
rain came down in torrents. We soon |
had clouds above and below us, ana !
farther up often lost sight Of the en- |
CINE in the vapor which enveloped the |
train.
1 shall never forget that railroad. 1t |
makes one think of the toys of his boy |
hood. The track is a tWo-foot narrow |
gage, the engine is about 10 feet IN
length and the cars are pigmies in COM |
partisan with our American coaches.
The way up ds a series of corkScrew
curves, zigzags and US. The train goes
about like a snake and the cars are so
small that they look like the links of a |
chain, the ends of which now and then
seem to touch. There are dozen horse |
shoe curves every mile and you make
figure S's several times in your drunk
en- climb up the hill. AS you rise you