CHAPTER XXXVII. 



HOW THE DUKE OF ABRUZZI, WHO NEARLY 

 FOUND THE POLE, CLIMBED THE HIMALAYAS. 



Details of the Himalayan trip in 1909 of the Duke of Abruzzi, whose ro- 

 mance with Katherine Elkins was much talked of in 1908, shows this journey 

 to have been the greatest mountaineering feat of the times. He reached a 

 height of 24,500 feet above sea level, — this after a dangerous and thrilling 

 journey at the head of a large party. 



The duke had already been distinguished for his mountaineering work, 

 and his Arctic explorations as well. He belongs in the front rank of those who 

 sought the north pole. In 1900 he led an expedition to latitude 86 degrees, 33 

 minutes, breaking Nansen's record by about 23 miles. Abruzzi established his 

 base of supplies on the north shore of Franz Joseph's Land, 480 miles from 

 the Pole. He planned to make the polar dash in 45 days. The party started 

 from the base on February 25, 1900. Violent winds and bitter cold proved a 

 terrible handicap to the party's progress. On March 22, three men were sent 

 back to establish communication with the base of supplies ; but these men were 

 never again heard from. On reaching latitude 86 degrees, 33 minutes, a short- 

 age of food and the condition of the men made it necessary to turn back. 

 Abruzzi left a cylinder containing a record of the expedition at this point, the 

 farthest north up to that time. 



Details of the duke's adventurous trip to the Himalaya Mountains, during 

 which he reached the greatest height ever attained on this earth by man, were 

 published in the Corriere della Sera of Milan. They were obtained by a rep- 

 resentative of that paper, who boarded the steamer on which the duke was re- 

 turning to Italy at Port Said, proceeding from there with the royal mountaineer 

 and his companions to Marseilles. Abruzzi himself gave no description of the 

 momentous trip. Though always courteous, according to the Italian newspa- 

 per man, his silence is absolutely impenetrable. But from his comrades the lat- 

 ter obtained an interesting narrative of the expedition, from its beginning last 

 spring to the accomplishment of the record-breaking feat of its intrepid leader, 

 on Bride Peak, in the Himalayas, on July 17, 1909. 



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