Show I S s Ir H F I r fir P f r e e s J Jr r Jr r Y 4 t Darjeeling With Peaks of the Himalayas In the Background PreDy Prepared by the tho t Geographic Society ton tont DC D C 1 FOUNTS OUTS TS hornet Kamet and I Kinchin M junga In the ns hale ha taken ta n the place of Mount C Everest erst this summer In the Interest of the v- v world s mountain ers Mount Kamet 23 2 15 4 15 feet high British was as successfully scaled by a party on Junel June 21 27 27 feet high Is now being attacked by a party of Germans Heretofore Mount Kimet has hns eel col dom been heard of when the earth s 5 highest pinnacles are being discussed but nevertheless It Is one of the select little group troup of Asiatic peaks that push pushup pushup up above e sea level lesel than noun moun mountains In any other part of or the earth Although It ranks ranIs thirtieth among the group of mountain glints giants that e tend along alon the Himalaya chain and Into China It Is not greatly surpassed In height by any of or Its fellows except U erect feet hl high h Goodwin Austen 23 20 0 S 8 and Gosal Gosai Than G All of ot these those super giants among mountains ire In Nepal e except Goodwin Austen which Is In northern Kashmir The peak of Mount Is situated just a stone stones s throw south Fouth of the Tibetan border In fn Inthe Inthe the United Provinces of India a Near Nearby Nearby by Is Ninda Nanda Devi De 1 which v- v tops I It t by less than feet teet These comparisons boll boil do down n to the fact that Kimet Kamet Is the third highest mount mountain In In the Brit BritIsh BritIsh Ish empire and bv by virtue of this tills Net It was considered well worth a serf serl serious ous oue attack by mountain climbers While Mounts C Everest rest and Kinchin junga are near hill hili capital of Ben Bengal al Mount Kimet Kamet Is COO GOO miles to the northwest near Simla hill hili cap capItal Ital of India It lies ties in the district of the United Provinces 1 0 miles due east cist of Simla near ne-ar the eightieth meridian of lon longitude This area came Into British possession In 1811 Ma as a result of the Gurki war with v-Ith 1 This region consists of ofa ofa ofa a mare maye of or high peaks with extremely deep valleys winding nUon among them The valleys s and lower slopes are hea v fly wooded How Mount Kamet Is Reached The used In expeditions to Mount Kamet 1 Is at m In Inthe inthe Inthe the United Provinces at nt the southern e-d e edge e of the an nD foothills I rom there travel Is overland o through h sal nl le legs s and ind up steep slopes to n a hill bill village e comparable In I to Simla From the they way y leads 0 over oser er rough countr country ind across a number of deep river rl gorges or es to the village of l Alti at nt 1 12 feet altitude from this point both yaks and coolie bearers are used Although numerous attempts to scale Mount Kimet Kamet hl hive base e been made since 1 1855 5 no one succeeded In tn reachIng reach In the summit until this tills summer The latest intent expedition prior to the one that his just scaled the peak peal was led ledIn IQ 1020 1120 bv by Dr A M Kellis Kellas lIe He reached an nn altitude of 23 GOO feet but had to turn hick back because his hi'S mth native e ens ns assistants were suffering from moun mountain tamn nessOn ness nessOn On the slopes Elopes of Mount fount Kamet Isone Is Ie Isone one of the chief head licad water w glaciers of the Ganges rl river riser er Is bigger game ame for the climber n thin thin 1 inn Kimet met both hoth u n u because of or Its e extreme height and tide steepness c of Its slopes It Is the thC third highest mountain In the world reaching up upward ard live fuse e and one third miles above abase e sea level lesel le el elor Of or the three highest I peaks merest peaks Ev erest Goodwin Austen and the latter Is Ie most moet It lies 95 45 miles north of Darjeeling In an nn nIl air airline airline line but the roid that one mu must t tr trel el across can canyons cannons ons 0 offer or ridges and around peaks peals Is much longer Darjeeling oas been headquarters he for tor the several se eral expeditions tint that base e tried unsuccessfully to scale junga In past ears Like Simla miles f f west and In Kashmir Darjeeling Is la a n godsend to perspiring Europeans who ho must spend the hot period In India Inilla But It Is Ismore Ismore Ismore more than a n cool retreat retreat- It Is 13 a matchless observation post when the clouds permit for the mightiest mountain moun tamn scenery that the world affords And the outstanding sl sight ht to the north northward northward v- v ward vard ard across deep chasms and beyond tier after aner tier of Is la the mighty buttressed by halt half a dozen peaks pe from O to feet In altitude Darjeeling stands on a sort of sta stage e I before and above e which S sweep the amphitheater slopes of himalayan foothills that rises about feet I from the plains On the side I toward the mountains the lie ridge drops I a away ay for G feet forming what hat might In American ter ter- terminology ter- ter terminology terminology be called calierI the Grand Can Canyon Canyon Canyon yon of the Ranjit but whose heavily forested slopes and tropically luau giant floor earns c In India the more poetic name of S ale of Ranjit It Is across this valley and beyond 0 over oser er ranges ranes of foothills 10 er than that lint on which sits that one looks to mighty junga The e eye CiO e therefore sees a rise of approximately 7 feet a range of altitude to be seen In few If It any other places in the v- v world orId since most of the highest mountains rise from Crom lofty plateaus Darjeeling on the Foothills Darjeeling has characteristics un unlike unlike like lIfe those of most to towns tons ns It can hard hardI I 13 be said to have hale ha e streets Most Jost of the buildings face on paths or v- v walks which run along the main ridge and out onto Its minor spurs or work worb their way by serpentine routes to other paths that cling to the steep sides of the slopes Step Steps too sen sense e eIn In place of roads connecting terraces that rise one above e the other One of the few roads Is a n IlY that skirts shirts the 10 lower er end of the main mainrIdge mainridge mainridge rIdge and leads below to the suburb and its barracks for British soldier The villas lIIas bungalows shops go buildings hospitals schools s ind native e huts that nuke up Darjeeling and Its suburb form pendant communities like giant bags bags saddle thrown as 0 over er the ridge Dwellings are scattered down n the slopes for a n thousand feet the ground round floors of ot one tier on i a level lesel le el with v-Ith the roots of the ne next t tier below belov- If It one must cover corer much space In Darjeeling he rides rilles on pony back bick or Is carried In Ina ina Ina a litter by four sel The center of Darjeeling Is a Observatory Observatory tory lull i a knoll on the crest st of ridge Topping the knoll Is a Buddhist monument and surrounding It is a small forest of stuffs stiffs from b prayer er flags s flutter nutter their supplications Prom the benches henches near the monument one may sit when mist and clouds do donot donot donot not Interfere re and take e of 01 s 5 best view slew of ml mighty bin I In 1 marl ind Its Ite fellows s But often the sigil Igil is Ie fruitless It Is only for brief periods during spring and early winter Inter that one may ma be sure of long uninterrupted stews MOWS of the towering ind Ice walls ails and snowy slopes to the north Looking Across to the Peaks Standing on the DarJeeling D ridge e ehen when hen the air nir Is free of mists the observer oh ob sen serer er first looks loohs down deep do down don doG n G feet Into a n river riser rh er gorge org choked with v-Ith jun jungle lC Then his Ills e es rIse to the rice nelds reflecting the blue sky sly and the tea plantations Up and up to the zone trees then to the pine forests crowning 10 er mountains The 1 he observer er peeps 0 oser er half halt i a dozen doyen Intervening ridges Into the dunk dirk mysterious m depths of alle s Then he sees the hire bare up upland land above the tree line and finally the beginning of the snows Pong Fong I- I Ion on glaciers u rape to mass v- v whose hose two Thronged pronged peak half fills the sky The fhe world orld seems to be he on the north There is no such thing as a horizon closes the slew lew like an nn exquisite screen The vertical hel height ht Is to the lie length lenth nt at this point of n vantage as ns one Is Ie to tint Is s o-s a tree CO feet teet high appears when Ie viewed ell at the distance of one a average avenge ver vere e city blochIn block bloch In terms of American views s n seen from Darjeeling Is like the ton monument n as asIt asIt It appears from the west veranda tit t the Capitol or the Woolworth orth ns as seen from lie Jersey shore Darjeeling v- v will well earns e Its popularity nc as a ft summer summet resort While on the steamy plains of a few miles away awny the mercury climbs In summer above aboe degrees I It set sel dom um tops 75 degrees at nt Darjeeling and In w winter Inter inter 35 degrees s the low v point of the temperature range The feature of the weather Is furnished by the heavy heay rains Ten fen feet of water fall each year and ami some ot of the storms are violent |