Evening star., 1933-06-10
Special Dispatch to The Star.

tanning warm water. and a mass O
| geographical detail for adding to a maj
which at present contains very little
! definite information, have already
! emerged from the survey strips made
by Lord Clydesdale and Flight Lieut.
| D. F. Mcintyre on their unauthorized
/ second Mount Everest flight.
! The plotting of this survey has now
| gone 50 far that the actual track Of
! one airplane and part of the track OF
the other can be set on the map. Even
! tually map of the pieces of country
| covered will be made and geographers
will have their first opportunity Of
| studying the character of large part
/ of the great mountains southern face
| The strip already identified approache:
Everest from the southwest, makes a
! sharp turn to the east, and then to the
! southeast with the summit partially
visible through the snow plume, passes
close to the eastern side of Lhotse, and
ends with the exhaustion of the film
supply above miles southwest of the
crest of Everest.
Results Called Magnificent.
On this strip there is not single
gap caused by the jamn1ing of the
camera or the making of a bad expos
ure. A few f1eecy clouds interpose
themselves between the camera and
its object on some of the lower slopes.
The snow plume obscures some of the
detail near the summit, but in general
the product of the pilot and of the
camera is magnificent.
1t is evident that in making this
strip the airplane was above the leve.
of the summit at one point, though it
was never quite vertically over it. The
pilots, it will be remembered, were
under the impression they must not &C
tually cross the summit, as they did on
their first fight. Nevertheless the pilot
was determined to get a view o. the
summit on his strip, and at the right
moment he banked, so that his camera.
directed vertically downwards ir the
floor of the machine, took several slight
ly oblique photographs of the summit.
These four or five pictures are now
proving a source Of anxiety to Col M.
Mcleod who is in charge Of the
geographic section CT the War Office,
and to Lieut.. j. S. A. Salt, who as a
member of his staff, has been given di-
rect control of the plotting. They en-
large task already complicated enough
by the changing scale CT successive
photographs taken at different heights
above the ground.
Defect Has Lucky Side.
1t will be readily appreciated that
in flying over ground which rises 50
precipitously as does the south side of
Everest, two vertical exposures made at
an interval of perhaps Is seconds Will
not yield photographs which can be
fitted into a mosaic in the same way
two similar photographs OF fiat country
could be made to join up.
In the scientific sense, therefore, TINS
fitting of an aerial camera, which Is
intended only to take vertical photo-
graphs, was unfortunate; but the defect
hes its lucky side. 1t leaves no doubt
that the pilots track goes the whole
way to the summit Of Everest, for this
is the verdict of the geographers; and
it will be supported, when the task OF
plotting is complete, by map strip OF
a piece OF country over 20 miles long
and perhaps a mile and half Wlde,
eliminating in the peak of Everest. -,
How much new material TINS Will
Weld it is impossible at present to estl-
mate. How much detail remains to De
filled in on that part of the map COW
ering the Southern side Of Everest may
be imagined from the vagueness OF the
best existing map.
Position of Lake Marked.
The two glaciers, hitherto unmarked
on the map, appear to lie respectively to
the Southwest and Southeast OF Lhotse
The high altitude lake is to be found
near the head of the Khumbu Glacier.
The geographers prefer to be cautious.
They agree, after careful stereoscoplc
examination. that the image on the pho
tograph is that of a fiat surface. They
think it unlikely that it could be rock
or black ice, for if it were either 1t
would most probably bear layer OF
snow. The one explanation which
seems adequate is the surface is water
surface and the temperature OF the
water. from some subterranean origin,
is high enough to prevent freezino and
to melt any snow that falls into it.
Until the process of extracting con-
tour lines from the photographs is
undertaken, the actual height of the
lake cannot be determined. 1t lies
on the easterly slope of Nuptse, which
is over $4,000 feet high. Its altitude,
therefore, is less than that, but prob
ably not much less. The lake may be
said with some certainty to measure at
least 200 feet across, dimension which
is of some interest. if its source Is in
deed a hot water spring.
The task of Identifying this strip,
with the aid chiefly of map contain
ing very few definite features, has been
one of great difficulty as well as Of
great interest The geographers were
helped by the oblique photographs
taken on both flights by Lieut.. Col. l..
V. S. Blacker, chief observer of the
Houston Everest Expedition.
Work Started on Maps.
Points common to both vertical and
oblique photographs have been discov-
cred, and the obliques, showing much
wider area Of country, have enabled
features in the vertical views to be To-
Gated. Also, the strips taken by the