First_Over_Everest_The_Houston-Mount_Everest_Expedition_1933 by ANNA KAVAN

Author:ANNA KAVAN
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: DOUBLEDAY & COMPANY, INC.
Published: 1940-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

FIRST OVER EVEREST!

itary service thus open provided an outlet for the martial aspirations of these people, and kept alive the old fighting spirit which has been shown in British interests on more than one occasion.

Prior to the war with the British, Nepal had, as already related, engaged in one with the Tibetans. This excited the anger of the Chinese, of whose kingdom Tibet was a dependency, and they dispatched an army of seventy thousand men to deal with the ubiquitous Gurkhas. The march of this Chinese army across 4,000 miles of plains and forest, and over the highest inhabited portion of the globe, was an astounding performance and probably one of the greatest of its kind in military annals.

The story goes that the Chinese general received his orders from the Son of Heaven in Peking, as the emperor was called; for, theoretically at any rate, he ruled over all beneath the sun, and the nations on the earth were his vassals. The commander-in-chief was given a nondescript army, some vague instructions as to the direction of the enemy and what it was all about, and told to get on with his task.

145

LOOKING TOWARD MAKALU FROM EVEREST

When the airplane was nearly over Everest this picture of Makalu was taken. With its sheer slopes, canyons and ice masses, Everest's sister peak presented an awe-inspiring and dramatic spectacle to the aerial observers.

FIRST OVER EVEREST!

His march across Asia without supply, transport, or medical services, is an example of Chinese tenacity and patience. As long as they were in a more or less inhabited area the army lived on the country, but once beyond it it was no longer possible. The general was, however, equal to the occasion. He collected and halted his roving force, marked out the area round their camps into plots; the sword, the musket, and the lance were laid aside, and in their place were taken up the shovel and the plough. Cereals and vegetables were sown, and in the fullness of time the crops were garnered; with renewed supplies the army continued its march until the goal was reached.

So well did the celestial general carry out his orders that he advanced to within a few miles of Khatmandu and forced Nepal to submit to his terms.

In 1854 the Gurkhas again came up against the Tibetans and after a war lasting two years, fought under extraordinary conditions of intense cold and hardship—for operations were carried on at altitudes of fourteen and fifteen thousand feet— the Gurkhas triumphed

FIRST OVER EVEREST!

China this time left the Tibetans to fend for themselves, being preoccupied with internal troubles at home and the menace of flood and famine which have ever been a nightmare to the Chinese. The Gurkhas' terms, imposed and accepted, were the secession of certain territory and the annual payment of 10,000 rupees. We were told a story relative to the question of supplies in this campaign. The Gurkhas being orthodox Hindus could not use oxen for food, since the cow is sacred, but their ruler was a man of resource.

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