BOOK REVIEWS

The Assault on Mount Everest, 1922. By Brigadier-General Hon. C. G. Bruce, C.B., M.V.O., and other members of the Expedition. With maps and illustrations. Longmans, Green & Co., New York, 1923. $7.50.

In introducing the results of the recent great endeavor on Mount Everest, Sir Francis Younghusband answers most happily the question which often arises in the mind of the general reader: "What is the good of it?" "The good of that," he tells us, "is that a whole new enjoyment in life will be opened up. And enjoyment of life is, after all, the end of life. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to enjoy life. And some of us know that by climbing a mountain we can get some of the finest enjoyment there is to be had. . . . most of the best things in life we have to take on trust at first till we have proved them for ourselves."

The route from Darjeeling into Tibet, the organization of transport, and the placing of high camps, are attractively described by General Bruce, leader of the 1922 Expedition and an outstanding figure in previous exploration of remote districts of the Himalaya. One will delight in his colorful presentation of Tibetan scenery, and the humorous depiction of native life: "But on that morning when we came to the junction of the valley of the Arun, we had a most wonderful and clear view of Mount Everest to the south. The whole of the face that was visible to us was smothered in snow. The entire setting of the piece was very strange; the country was almost bare enough to remind one of a crumbled Eygptian desert, and the strangeness and wonder was hugely increased by the south of the valley being filled with this wonderful mountain mass. As a matter of fact, I really think that the Rongbuk Lama had a friendly feeling for me personally, as he told the interpreter, Karma Paul, that he had discovered that in a previous incarnation I had been a Tibetan Lama. I was fortunately inspired to say that we regarded the whole Expedition, and especially our attempt to reach the summit of Everest, as a pilgrimage."

There follows the thrilling First Attempt, described by George LeighMallory, in which he, with Somervell, Norton, and Morshead, from a camp above the North Col (Chang La), attained a record elevation of 26,985 feet. One finds Mallory in a philosophical mood, but maintaining the standard of fine-writing which characterizes all his descriptions of natural beauty: “I remember how my mind kept wandering over the various details of our preparations without anxiety, rather like God after the Creation seeing that it was good." And what reader will not have admiration for the type of explorer who, at 21,000 feet, produces from his pack, Robert Bridges' anthology, The Spirit of Man, and Hamlet? "The trouble with lighter literature," asserts Mallory, "is that it weighs heavier because more has to be provided."

It is worthy of record that Mallory has given us perhaps the keenest bit of humor which has yet come down from high elevations: medical opinion, which knew all about what was good for us, frowned upon the

notion of alcoholic stimulant for a climber in distress at a high altitude, and so, very naturally, when one of us (Be of good cheer, my friend, I won't give you away!) produced from his pocket a flask of brandy, each of us took a little nip. I am glad to relate that the result was excellent; it is logically certain therefore that the brandy contained no alcohol."

Captain Finch graphically describes the Attempt with Oxygen, in which he, with Goeffrey Bruce, and assisted by the gurkha, N. C. O. Tejbir, reached 27,235 feet-less than 2000 feet below the summit-the highest elevation yet attained by man on the surface of the earth.

There followed a Third Attempt, described by Mallory; a race against the coming Monsoon, ending in disaster below the North Col, with the tragic loss of seven porters: men who had come to have a share in the enterprise and who met their fate in an act of voluntary service freely rendered and faithfully performed.

Notes, by Somervell, on Acclimatization, Color in Tibet, and Tibetan Culture; and Natural History, by Longstaff, conclude a volume which takes a foremost place in the annals of Himalayan mountaineering and forms a worthy shelf-companion to The Reconnaissance, 1921.

Ronaldshay, The Earl of. Lands of the Thunderbolt. 258 pages, with thirty-two photographic illustrations and a map. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1923. Price, $5.00.

If the interest in the countries of the Eastern Himalayas lay solely in their physical characteristics, they would be worthy of the attention and admiration of any traveller. Yet, in addition, they possess unusual human interest by reason of the curious lines on which the thought of the people has developed, and of the strange customs and practices to which that thought has given rise.

Rationalism, as exemplified by the metaphysics of early Buddhism, has, by a turn of Fate, coalesced with the superstitious demonolatry of primitive Tibet. The organized religion to which the term lamaism is applied, was founded by the Buddhist missionary Guru Rimpoché, and one of the chief emblems of his power was the thunderbolt. On the northern borders of Bengal, in Sikhim, and in portions of Tibet, lamaism reigns supreme; few are more able to elucidate the subject in interesting fashion than is Ronaldshay, President of the Royal Geographical Society and Governor of the province of Bengal. No little charm is added by the artistic photographic illustrations taken by the author.

The volume is conceived as a part of a larger whole which is designed to give some idea, not merely of the physical characteristics of the Indian empire, but of those subtler differences between East and West which are to be found in the thought and attitude toward life of its peoples.

Freshfield, Douglas W. Below the Snow Line. 262 pages, with index and nine maps in the text. E. P. Dutton & Co., 1923. Price, $7.00. The mountaineer who desires an alternative tramping-ground when seasonal conditions render the High Alps inaccessible, will do well to glance

through the pages of this volume by a former President of the Alpine Club and the Royal Geographical Society.

Here are assembled the memories of walks and climbs among the lesser ranges of the Old World,-the mountains of the Riviera, Corsica, Italy, , Greece, Bosnia, and Algeria. And, although one is carried away, in an occasional chapter, to more distant lands,-through the Byways of Japan, and from Victoria Nyanza to the Mountains of the Moon-one is held and fascinated by the hill-paths of the Mediterranean; the "great blue lake," as the guide Dévouassoud used to call it. Too many alpinists of the modern school have learned to climb and have forgotten how to walk; here is a book which might serve one as a primer in the re-education to the lost art of pedestrianism.

Enough technical information has been inserted between the lines of brilliant, sympathetic description to make the book a reliable guide; a most useful feature being the insertion of small scale maps at beginning of many of the regional chapters. The vividness of word painting, however, does not entirely satisfy the wish that there had been a few carefully selected illustrations. For a book of such economical format, its price seems utterly unreasonable.

GEOGRAPHIC NEWS AND NOTES

The National Geographic Society has organized an expedition for the. exploration of the Province of Kweichow, China, the home of mysterious non-Chinese tribes and the habitat of the famed forked-tailed monkey.

Frederick R. Wulsin has been designated to proceed to Pekin to organize his staff for the trip into the remotest part of China. The Province to be explored is about the size of Missouri and has a population of 8,000,000. It is as inaccessible as Tibet.

The monkey the expedition will seek is the rhinopithecus brelichi, of which the only evidence available now is a skin. There has been speculation regarding the possibility of this species being an animal described in a passage of Chinese literature as follows:

"Its nose is turned upward, and the tail, very long and forked at the end; whenever it rains the animal thrusts the forks into its nose. It goes in herds and lives in friendship; when one dies the rest accompany it to burial. Its activity is so great it runs its head against the trees; its fur is soft and gray and the face black."

Mrs. Rosita Forbes, the English explorer, was presented with the gold medal of the French Geographical Society on November 7th, after she had delivered a lecture on her experiences. Mrs. Forbes recently returned from a trip to Morocco, and will lecture before this Society on February 6th.

Roald Amundsen, the Scandinavian explorer, in 1924, is to make a further attempt to reach the North Pole by airplane. Spitzbergen will be the starting point and Alaska the objective. By permission of Secretary Denby, Lieut. Ralph E. Davison will be a member of the party.

Mr. George K. Cherrie, the explorer of South America, is to take a further trip with the Matto Grosso region of Brazil as the objective of his journey.

Dr. George Gordon, head of the University Museum, has returned from Palestine, where he has supervised excavations in the Holy Land. One of the principal finds of the museum's expedition has been two stelai, tablets found at Bethshan, which yield information in connection with the captivity of the Jews, telling of the reign of Pharaoh Seti and his connection with the wars between Transjordania and Palestine.

Howard Carter, accompanied by his assistants, Mr. Callender and Mr. Burton, of the Metropolitan Museum, have arrived at Luxor and are resuming work on the tomb of Tutankhamen. The entire progress of excavation is to be recorded by cinemetograph.

The Naval Arctic Air Board has announced a program for the exploration of the unknown region between Point Barrow and the North Pole. It

is understood that, after the first of the year, the dirigible Shenandoah will be given a series of tests to develop her efficiency for a possible cruise to Polar areas.

The American Geographical Society of New York announces the inauguration of a School for Surveying. Dr. A. Hamilton Rice, the wellknown South American Explorer, will serve as Director of the School, which is intended, by a systematic course of instruction in geographical surveying and field astronomy to enable prospective explorers to bring back from their journeys cartographic results of value.

Mr. Neil M. Judd, of the U. S. National Museum, Washington, spent most of the summer in further investigation of Puebla Bonito in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Later in the year, he led a small party sent out by the National Geographic Society, to investigate an unknown area in Utah lying North of the Rio San Juan and east of the Colorado portions of which are said to have hitherto been unvisited by white men.

Shackleton Memorial Fund.-Under the chairmanship of the Earl of Ronaldshay, President of the Royal Geographical Society, a committee has been formed in London with the object of securing subscriptions to the above fund. It appears the late Sir Ernest Shackleton on his decease, left a very modest sum to his family. The Committee propose to apply the funds placed at their disposal to two objects: the erection of a suitable memorial to the explorer on the Thames Embankment and to make provision for the support of Mrs. Shackleton, the mother of the explorer, and the proper education of his children. The many friends of the gallant Shackleton in America who may wish to show their concern for the dependents of the explorer, may send their contributions to the Hon. Treasurer of the fund; Mr. Howard Button, 61 Lincoln's Inn Fields, W. C. London.

The gold medal of the Roy Scottish Geographical Society has been awarded to Dr. Hugh Robert Mill, and the Livingstone gold medal to Dr. Marion I. Newbiggin, in recognition of their distinguished service in geographical research and exploration.