| Show at 0 X WE T sy darjeeling with peaks peak of the himalayas himalaya in the background prepared by the national nil geographic society D C kamet and MOUNTS M junga in the himalayas have taken the place of mount everest this summer in the interest of the worlds mountain climbers mount kamet feet high was successfully scaled by it a british party on june jun le 21 Kinchin junga feet high Is now being attacked by a party of germans Ger mabs heretofore mount kamet has seldom been heard of when the earths highest pinnacles are being discussed but nevertheless it Is one of the select little group of asiatic peaks that push up farther above sea level than mountains in any other part of the earth although it ranks thirtieth among the amassing group of mountain giants that extend along the himalaya malaia Hl chain and into china it Is not greatly surpassed i in height by any of af its fellows ex except c ept everest feet high goodwin austen ansten Kinchin junga and gosal gos I 1 than all of these sup super er glants giants among mountains are in nepal except goodwin austen Ai isten which Is in northern kashmir the peak of mount kamit Is situated just a stones throw south of the tibetan border in the united provinces of india nearby Is nanda devi which tops it by less than feet these c comparisons karlsons parl sons slamet boll down to the tact fact that kamet Is 18 the third highest mountain mount aln in the british empire and by virtue of this fact it was considered well worth a serl serious attack by mountain climbers while mounts everest and kinchin junga are near darjeeling hill capital of bengal mount kamet Is miles to the northwest near simla hill cap ital of india it lies in the district of the united provinces miles due east of simla near the eightieth meridian of longitude this area came into british possession in 1814 ns as a result of the gurka war with nepal this region consists of a maze of high peaks with extremely deep valleys winding among them the valleys and lower slopes elopes are heavily wooded how mount kamet Is reached the rall railhead hend used in expeditions to mount kamet Is at in the united provinces at the southern edge of the himalayan malayan ni foothills from there travel Is overland through val tal leys leyh and up steep slopes to a hill fill village comparable in location to simla from the way lends leads mer rough country and across a number of deep river go gorges ages to the village of ditl at f feet t altitude from this point both yaks and coolie bearers tire are used although numerous attempts to scale mount kamet have been made since 1855 no one succeeded in reaching the summit until this summer the latest expedition prior to the one that has just scaled the peak was led in 1920 by dr A M kellas ile he reached an altitude of 23 COO feet but had to turn back because his native assistants were suffering from mountain sickness on the slopes of mount kamet Is one of the chief head water glaciers of the ganges canges river Is bigger game for the mountain climber than kamet both because of its extreme height and the steepness of its slopes it Is the third highest mountain in the world reaching upward five and one third miles above son sea level of the three highest peaks everest goodwin austen and I the latter Is most inaccessible it lies iles 45 miles north of darjeeling in an air line but the road that one must travel across canyons over ridges and around intervening peaks is much longer darjeeling tins has been headquarters for the several expeditions that have tried unsuccessfully to scale kinchin junga in past years like simla miles farther west and Sri in kashmir darjeeling Is a godsend to perspiring europeans who must spend the hot period in india nut but it Is more than a cool retreat it Is a matchless observation post when the clouds permit for the mightiest mountain scenery that the world affords and the outstanding sight to the northward across deep chasms and beyond tier after tier of ta Is the mighty Kinchin junga buttressed by half a dozen peaks from to feet in altitude darjeeling stands on a sort of stage before and above which sweep the amphitheater Phi theater slopes of himalayan malayan Hl foothills that rises about feet from the belgian plains on the side toward the mountains the ridge drops away for approximately feet forming what might in american te terminology r min be called the grand canyon of the ranjit but whose he heavily a vily forested slopes and tropically luxuriant floor earns in india the more poetic name of vale of ranjit 11 it Is across this titanic valley and beyond over ranges of foothills lower than that on which welch darjeeling sits that one looks to kinchin junga the eye therefore sees a rise of approximately feet a range of altitude to be seen in few if any other places in the world since most of the highest mountains rise from lofty plateaus darjeeling on the foothills darjeeling has characteristics unlike those of most towns it can hardly be said to have streets most of the buildings face on paths or walks which run along the main ridge and out onto its minor spurs or work their way by serpentine routes to other paths that cling to the steep sides of the slopes steps too serve in place of roads connecting terraces that rise one above the other one of the few carriage roads Is a driveway that skirts the lower end of th the main emain ridge and leads below to the suburb labong and its barracks for british soldiers the villas bungalows shops government buildings hospitals churches schools barracks and native huts that make up darjeeling and its suburb form pendant communities like giant saddlebags saddle bags thrown over the ridge dwellings are scattered down the slopes for a thousand feet the ground floors of one tier on a level lei el with the roofs of the next tier below it if one must mus t cover much space in darjeeling he fie rides on pony back ar or Is carried in a litter by tour four servants the center of darjeeling Is observatory hill a knoll on the crest of the ridge topping the knoll Is a buddhist monument and surrounding it to Is a small forest of staffs from prayer flags flutter their supplications ions from the benches near the monument one may sit when mist and clouds do not interfere and take advantage p of Darjee lings best view of mighty kin and its fellows but often the vigil Is fruitless it Is only for relatively brief periods during spring and early winter that one may be sure of long uninterrupted views of the towering granite and ice fee walls and snowy slopes to the north looking across to the peaks StandI standing Dg on the darjeeling ridge when the air Is free of mists the observer first looks down deep down feet into a river gorge choked with tropical jungle then his eyes rise to the rice fields reflecting the blue sky and the tea plantations up and up to the temperate zone trees then to the pine forests crowning lower mountains the observer peeps over half a dozen intervening ridges into the dark mysterious lous depths of valleys then he sees the bare uplands above the tree line and finally the beginning of the snows long white glaciers denpe the mountain mass whose two pronged peak half fills the sky shy the world seems to fee be walled on the north there Is no such thing as a horizon closes the view like an exquisite screen the vertical height Is to the length nt at this point of vantage ns as one Is to eight that Is ns its a tree CO 60 feet high appears when viewed at the distance of one average city block in terms of familiar american views KinchIn junga seen from darjeeling Darjee Ung Is like the washington monument as it appears from the west veranda of the capitol or the woolworth gauding as seen from the jersey shore darjeeling well earns its popularity as a summer resort while on the steamy plains of bengal Beng fil a few miles away the mercury climbs in summer above degrees fahrenheit it seldom tops 75 degrees tit at darjeeling and in winter 35 degrees marks the low point of the temperature range the unpleasant feature of the weather la is furnished by the heavy rains ten iren feet of water fall each year and some ot of the storms are violent |
