EVEREST EXPEDITION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18711, 17 May 1924, Page 12

EVEREST EXPEDITION.

OFFICIAL NARRATIVE. &&&*■'. - v . '*' % "• :

NEAREST POINT TO HEAVEN.

FINAL' ' PREPARATIONS.

WEEK LONGER THAN LAST YEAR.

Arrangements have been made for the publication in the Hbbax.d of articles describing the progress of the r third expedition to endeavour to scale Mount Everest. The object has been very simply described by Brigadier-General C. &. Bruce, . leader of the expedition, who . says:—' It is possible that certain branches of .science may benefit slightly from the experiences of the party but the dominant not® of the whole undertaking, first, last, and foremost, is a great adventure—also now become the pilgrimageby which we explained to the great Lama of Rongbuk,. the Sans Rimpoche, that it was for us an attempt to reach the highest point on earth as being the nearest to Heaven." _ , The expedition left Darjeenng late m March. Following is the first. instalment of the official narrative, written by General Bruce, who' led the expedition until recently, when illness forced him to remain behind.

DARJEELING. Mar. "23.

For the third time the members of the Everest Expedition have been collected in Darjeeiing. Three is, I take it, a lucky number, but the good old proverb, "Trust in God anjl keep your powder dry." holds good an mountaineering, especially in such a task a3 we have set before us.

Well equipped as we were last year, I think I can safely say that wo have profited in a-great number of ' ways from the experiences $f that first great attempt, which, although unsuccessful, was _an enormous advance on any previous . attempts to attain the greatest altitude. i Let me once more draw attention to the psychological element in mountaineering. Mummery's classification, " first, absolutely Impossible j then the finest • climb in the Alps; and at last, an easy day for a lady," although humorously stated, exactly describes the attitude to be aimed at in all Himalayan exploration. Before 1922 only one night was ever spent at an altitude of 23,000 ft. To hark back still further., think of the attitude ' adopted by the great pioneers, think even of the grandfather of one of the mostdistinguished members of the Alpine Club, of his attitude toward altitudel refer to that of Justice Wills, whose ascent of the Wetterhorn is looked upon as the time from which modern mountaineering dates. Life at High Altitudes. Looking back at the'tremendous labour undertaken by the great pioneers, nobody - can doubt that they were physically at least the equals of modern miDuntaineers. They, however, were dominated by fear of collause at quite unnecessary altitudes. .\Ve now foster the idea that with due training anyone is rather a freak who is not prepared to remain for almost an unlimited period at heights of 21,000 feet, and more. It is, in other words, the mental outlook that counts. It is a queer thought that at a time when European •scientists were debating whether life was supportable or the sound of a pistol could be heard at the top of Mont Blanc, the road over our old friend the Khombu_ La (19,000 ft.), over which our porters' wives came carrying with them children of six months, had been in constant use for untold centuries.. We were greeted at Darjeeling with the news that porters had flocked in immense numbers to bo taken by the expedition. We were also heartened at ' hearing on the best authority that the Tibetans were looking forward to our arrival among them, and that they would welcome us. The first report was in no way exaggerated. We had a splendid lot of • ' men to choose from, and it is rather wonderful, I think, and very inspiring, when one considers the great hardships which ' they had undergone for so small a. reward, •that they have come forward with such enthusiasm. Two of those very anxious to go were the survivors of the unfor- . tunate accident _ which occurred during tho last expedition. • V Organisation of Supplies. We were again entertained by the Buddhist Society and the Hillmen's Association, and all of us received a special blessing from the local lamas. Especially I missed the presence of Mr. Laden La, who has gone as""deputy to Lhasa, where he enjoys the exalted rank of general. Lord and Lady Lytton have taken the - greatest interest in the expedition, and Lady Lytton personally inspected all the porters, who grinned at her in a friendly v and altogether ingenuous manner, probably not considered quite comma il fait . not very far to the south of Darjeeiing. This year we are very fortunate in having several 'experienced members of the expedition in Darjeeling as early as March 1. Thus we were enabled to perfect our plans not only for forwarding all heavy stores and the oxygen apparatus up to Phari Dzong, the point where we leave •the main road to Lhasa and start the journey westwards, but we were also able to earmark the exact stores required, both for the march and for the different staging of the camps from the grand base at Rongbuk Camp up to the Alpine base ' it North. Col Camp. i; This is entirely the outcome of the experience gained by the 1922 expedition, and will save an infinity of labour, ' - and, what is of mhch _ greater importance,- time on the arrival at the base camp, for, indeed, the success of the expedition depends on the result of our race with the south-west monsoon. We are now able to calculate, if all goes well during the march across Tibet, that, even if the monsoon arrives earlier than it should, wo should have at least a week's more time than in 1922 'to tackle the problem. of Everest. ■ > Personnel of the Expedition. We all greatly regret that one of our old transport officers, Captain Morris, at the last moment was unable to join us. It is hoped to fill his place with Major Mo'rahead, whoso previous great experience of Tibetan travel, especially of our expedition, had peculiarly fitted him for tho duties of transport officer. _ Notwithstanding the injuries he received from frostbite in 1922, it" is considered that he will be fullv able to assist in the capacity of transport officer below the show-line. Samteng Tokshe is the nanie by which he is known to all the Sherpas of his • district, and' no one is given a popular nickname who has not secured popular affection. , The nasty consists of six old and seven new members. . Mr. Mallory is the only one who has taken part in all three ex " peditions, and we all earnestly hope that his persistency will be crowned with suc- • cess." It is impossible to foretell accur- ' ately the effects of altitude in Himalayan travel upon the individual, but, as far as I am able to judge, apparently we have a climbing party in which not a single member is likely to prove a- broken reed. Colonel Norton, a mountaineer to the ■ manner born, : was one of the non-oxygen party of 1922. Of Dr. Somervell, anyone who has reed the assault of Everest in 1922 knows . his capabilities. Of Mr. Beetham, Dr. Somervell's climbing companion in the Alps, enough said. Mr. Odell is one whose explorations in Spitzbergen with the Oxford Spitzbergen Expedition, and general experience of mountaineering, not to mention his scientific attainments, make him one of the most important of our members. Mr. Hazard has already had experience of Himalayan travel and in the Hindu ICush, as well a3 in general mountaineering, a record which thoroughly justifies his membership. Dr. Kingston is an Indian medical official, * and is possibly still better known as a naturalist. _ ' The experiment of the expedition is Mr. Irvine, who has sacrificed a possible presidency of the 0.U.8.C. to ioin us. His record at Spitzbergen lar,t year and his really remarkable physique, to say nothing of his reputation as & general handy man, justify the experiment we are mak--;1 ing m exposing, one of his tender years v - to the rigors of Tibetan travel. We entertain no fears on this count. Mr. Slieb--5s - be? re, the new transport officer, is eminently suited. He belongs to the Indian _ Forests Department, and .we hope that |j|jpv* - »bis. professional knowledge will stand' us fe / | n good stead for his local knowledge is HgSkh myaluable and hi • energy equally so..

Last, but not least, Noel, the photographer. Those who saw the film produced by hiiji of the 1922 expedition will know that we are in clover. I find I have > left out Captain Geoffrey Bruce, who, with Captain Finch, holds the " reoord " height yet rcached. The reason is obvious, when I state that, to the duties of financial clerk, transport officer, and quarter-master-general, he has added, the thankless task of typist of tho expedition, Vice-Captain Morris, thus enabling the leader to communicate with the outside world—a task far beyond him ( if he had to rely on his own handwriting. We have also with us four Gurkha noncommissioned officers of the Sixth Gurkhas, of whom two took part in the 1922 expedition. Notwithstanding their previous experience, thevlian say they are strengthened and : reinforced by their two new companions. The original two include the Gurkha non-'commissioned officer, Tejbir Bura, who accompanied Captain Finch and Captain Bruce in their great attempt with oxygen. All goes well. We are well forward. The expedition leaves here on March 26