Evening star., 1953-06-16

they were treated as such. Their
equipment and their comfort
would be absolutely the same as
our own. and their safety, like
that of my teammates, would
always be foremost in my
thoughts.
Ang -Tharkey. their sirdar or
chief, was very energetic and
assumed undisputed authority
over his companions and porters.
He was an ardent Buddhist, and
his moral influence over the men
was considerable.
The other Sherpas who were
going to join us-Ang -Tsering,
known as PanSy, Dawatondu
Sarki. Foutharkey. ALA, AngawA.
Adjiba-had all had a certain
amount of experience. The ex-
pedition was to give them plenty
of opportunity to show what
they were made of.
Worlds Highest Peaks
Nepal lies higher than any
other country in the world ex-
cept Tibet and numbers within
its forbidden frontiers eight Ut
the highest peaks in the world.
This country of 100000 in
habitantS straddles the great
Himalayan rampant for nearly
400 miles. and is 100 miles wide.
On its Indian border is the Terai
the zone lying below the foot
hills-which is overgrown with
tropical vegetation.
It is an astonishing region,
sometimes sweltering under a
burning sun that Scorches every
thing, sometimes flooded by tor
rental monsoon rains.
On Sunday, April 16, 1850, we
arrived at Baglung, the last con-
siderable village before you
climb to the high valleys. There
remained only another three or
four marches before Tukucha
but those would be the hardest,
for we should have to rise from
about 1000 feet to 5000 feet.
Next morning Noyelie woke us
early: "Look-look-Dhaula
Dhaulagiri!"
A Pyramid of Ice
Dhaulagiri at last! Noyelle
was outside yelling for jov
Could he really see it? Every.
one was out in a flash, covering
up his nakedness with the first
thing that came to hand. Some
jumped out Of their sleeping
bags. hopping as in a sack race;
others utilized a handkerchief
for shorts. Lachenal distin-
guished himself by using his
knitted cap.
An immense ice pyramid. gilt
tering in the sun like crystal,
rose up more than $4,000 feet
above us. The south face, shin
ing blue through the morning
mists, was unbelieveably lofty
out Of this world. We were
speechless in the face of this
tremendous mountain whose
name was so familiar to us, but
the reality so moved us that we
couldn't utter a word.
Then slowly the reasons for
our being here conquered our
awe and our aesthetic pleasure.
and we began to examine the
gigantic outline from a practica!
point Of view.
"Just look at the east arete.
in the right"
"Yes, it's impossible"
This was cold water on our
hopes.
The sight was utterly magnifl-
cent, but from a mountaineering
point of view we hadn't prayer
on this south face.
A Deep Valley
AS we passed through Dana
we tried to discover in the dis
tance the lesser peaks and ridges
of Annapurna. -
We couldn't see Annapurna.
but right opposite us there
opened out the deep winding
valley of the Miristi Khola
Criver). On the map there was
a clearly marked path which
followed these gorges to the
Tilicho Pass. from which short
arete seemed to lead to the sum-
NIT of Annapurna. .
Later, when we came to eX-
plore the country, we found that
the Miristi gorges were impaSs-
able; the famous Tilicho Pass
was not where it was marked
on the map.
At GhaSa it began to get
chilly. for we were now about
$500 feet up. with another 1900
feet to climb up to Tukucha.
There were no longer eny bana-
mas or rice, only a few poor
looking crops. mostly barley.
A little farther on we saw the
upper slopes of Dhaulagiri.
streaked with blue ice. The
| southeast ridge running down
towards us. of which we had
some hope. extended endlessly
as sharp as the blade of a knife
and bristling with ice pinnacles
and snow cornices-abSolutely
impregnable.
Four Miles Up
We all craned our necks to get
view of the gigantic walls
which disappeared nearly four
miles up into the clouds and the
| hl,ya eku Tha T.onlr u,oe 10 III