EVEREST'S TRAGEDY.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 168, 17 July 1924, Page 7

EVEREST'S TRAGEDY.

POIGNANT LETTER. FBOM LEADER OF PARTY. "ON THE KNEES OF THE GODS." "The organisation is complete; the climbers are fit; the rest is on the knees | of the gods." . . . "If happy is the country t,hat has no hisiory, then happy is our expedition." These passages, now invested 'with such traffic import, were contained in a letter from Lieutenant-Colonel E. F. Norton, who led the Everest expedition in the absence, through malaria, of Brigadier-General C. G. Bruce. The letter, of which the London "Times" holds the world copyright, was written on April 20, at Base Camp, Rongbuk Glacier. On June S, Ca-ptain G. L. Mallory and Mr. A. C. Irvine died in the final rush to the crest of Everest. Colonel Norton would have accompanied them had he not been stricken with snow blindness the night before thfiy left. The letter suggests that the oxygen apparatus which Mallory and Irvine used was an improvement by Irvine on the original device sent from England. The letter reads:—So smoothly have things gone since I last wrote that I have no tale to tell of hardships or difficulties overcome. The difficulties were, indeed, all overcome when, in 1922. General Bruce's tact and personality completed the foundation laid by Colonel Howard-Bury in 1921, thus paving smooth the way for any future expedition to Everest. My last letter brought up to Shekar Dzong. The Jongyen (Prefect) of Shekar includes Everest and the Rongbuk Valley in his large district, and much, therefore, depended on his willingness to help. Having met this capable and courteous gentleman in 1922, we were not without hope of arranging everything satisfactorily, nor were we disappointed. All serious business was settled in an hour. The really handsome presents we offered him were much appreciated, though on such occasions it is not easy to spot a winner. A beautiful piece of Benares gold embroidery worth £5, and a picture of the Potala (the Dalai Lama's palace at Lhasa), on silk, worth £10, topped the betting. Yet a cheap camp chair and an ordinary pair of snow | goggles evidently romped home first and second in our host's estimation. Irvine's Invention. At Shekar we had a trial trip of tho oxygen apparatus on a steep pyramid. This was to test the merits of the apparatus as originally sent from England and an adaptation designed by the fertile genius of Mr. Irvine. The adaptation, besides eliminating certain leaks and mechanical defects, lightens and simplifies the apparatus, and, most important of all, does away with the vulnerable portions carried on the climber's chest, and so frees him to tackle rocks with less delicacy than formerly. Even so, at the elevation of Shekar Dzong (14,500 ft)., we found the rocks more easily climbed without the apparatus. The next day we crossed Pang La, (17,200 ft), our last high pass before the Bate Camp. Most of us walked over this pass, noting , with satisfaction a remarkable improvement in wind and in our general going power since we first crossed similar heights between Phari and Khamba Dzong. All agreed'that the form shown by this year's party over Pang La augurs very satisfactory results when in a few days' time we get down to serious business. From the top of the pass, for the first time the whole of the Everest system enters into close view. The five highest mountains in the world are there—Cho Uyo, Cyachungkan, Everest, 1 Makalu, and Kangchenjunga. Everest, in the centre, is displaying the great cloud pennon on its peak. Sketchbooks, cameras, binoculars and high-power telescopes are brought out, and the endless discussion, which will soon be settled once for all, on the possible mountaineering difficulties of the final ridge, is in full swing. A heartening note is that now the centre of interest has changed since the similar discussion in the same place in 1922. , Then the north ridge claimed most of our attention. Now we scarcely deign to discuss anything below the north-east shoulder. One optimist goes so far as to dismiss Everest as climbed, suggesting a careful study of possible routes up Makalu. Left Without Blessing. So by the hermit's cell in the gorge, and past Nyomdo, with painful recollections of the bitter cold breakfast jof two years ago, we go to Tashidom and a charming willow clump lent for our camp by the hospital headman of the village. Two more uneventful days brought us to the Rongbuk Monastery. Here we were disappointed to learn that our old friend, the most venerable and holiest head lama, was sick and unable to see us, so we had to content ourselves with an exchange of compliments and presents, and promises to meet later. It had been our intention to arrange for the formal blessing of the porters by this much venerated lama : but that also had to be postponed. We here met another old friend the Shika, or headman of Kharta, whe treated us most hospitably in 1922. He promised us green vegetables, luxuries almost unobtainable in this district. To-day, April 29, finds us again ir the 1922 base camp, and a cold welcome we have received. We woke to a lighi snowfall, walked over five rough miles of tumbled morraine and a frozen water course to the camp just under the spoul of the Rongbuk glacier, in the teeth o: a bitter wind. Their Last Task. Dirty as are these local men, thej are surely the hardiest in the work and the cheeriest. They come wii'ioul tents, and propose to sleep for ihr next five or six days up to the bleak Mumbei Two Camp (19,500 ft), on the edge oi I the east Rongbuk glacier, withoui shelter except what may be constructec from stones and a sheep-skin cape apiece. Half-a-dozen women are amonj them. Captain Geoffrey Bruce is haransruinj the porters, issuing extra clothing telling off the men in squads for work on the glacier, and generally seeing tc the comfort and efficiency of the per JBonnel. Mr. Mallory and Mr. Beetharr fare in charge of the Alpine equipmeni and the provisioning of the high camps Mr. Shobbeare, as quartermaster ii charge of all stores, and Mr. Hazarc as mess secretary, are having a regulaj field day. Mr. Odell and Mr. Irvine are har< at their daily task, testing, assembling ami repairing the oxypen apparatus an< cylinders. Dr. SomerveU is busy Witl the scientific and medical stores. In a few days now most of us wi] pa heading up the QJaeirrn.