﻿ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES. 
  143 
  

  

  thinks 
  it 
  possible, 
  however, 
  tliat 
  some 
  route 
  may 
  yet 
  be 
  found 
  by 
  which 
  the 
  

   summit 
  can 
  be 
  reached." 
  

  

  Now, 
  this 
  description 
  corresponds 
  in 
  every 
  respect, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  Mr. 
  Belshaw 
  

   and 
  I 
  could 
  see 
  and 
  judge, 
  with 
  the 
  grand 
  peak 
  to 
  the 
  northwest 
  of 
  us 
  — 
  the 
  

   original 
  Mouut 
  Whitney 
  ; 
  and 
  it 
  does 
  not 
  correspond 
  at 
  all 
  with 
  the 
  one 
  we 
  

   were 
  on, 
  and 
  which 
  by 
  mistake 
  has 
  borne 
  the 
  name 
  so 
  long. 
  

  

  Mount 
  Whitney, 
  having 
  " 
  its 
  perpendicular 
  face 
  turned 
  toward 
  the 
  east," 
  

   looks 
  from 
  Lone 
  Pine 
  like 
  a 
  pretty 
  sharp 
  conical 
  peak. 
  The 
  other 
  peak 
  shows 
  

   the 
  " 
  helmet 
  outline 
  " 
  from 
  Lone 
  Pine, 
  and 
  its 
  perpendicular 
  face 
  is 
  turned 
  

   toward 
  the 
  north 
  and 
  northwest 
  instead 
  of 
  the 
  east 
  ; 
  while 
  the 
  true 
  Mount 
  

   Whitney, 
  as 
  seen 
  from 
  the 
  summit 
  of 
  this 
  peak, 
  assumes 
  again 
  the 
  " 
  helmet 
  

   outline," 
  with 
  the 
  steepest 
  bluff 
  to 
  the 
  eastward. 
  

  

  Again, 
  the 
  peak 
  we 
  climbed 
  is 
  not 
  cut 
  anywhere 
  near 
  to 
  the 
  centre 
  by 
  canons, 
  

   either 
  numerous 
  or 
  steep, 
  on 
  the 
  south 
  or 
  southwest 
  sides. 
  Furthermore, 
  there 
  

   is 
  no 
  vestige 
  of 
  a 
  range 
  of 
  " 
  sharp 
  needles 
  " 
  to 
  the 
  south 
  of 
  it, 
  or 
  of 
  anything 
  

   that 
  could 
  suggest 
  such 
  an 
  idea 
  ; 
  while 
  immediately 
  to 
  the 
  south 
  of 
  the 
  tower- 
  

   ing 
  peak, 
  northwest 
  I'rom 
  the 
  one 
  we 
  climbed, 
  there 
  is 
  precisely 
  such 
  a 
  range 
  of 
  

   tremendous 
  and 
  utterly 
  inaccessible 
  crags 
  and 
  turrets, 
  and 
  sharp 
  and 
  lofty 
  

   pinnacles. 
  

  

  The 
  mountain 
  which 
  we 
  climbed 
  also, 
  instead 
  of 
  being 
  inaccessible 
  " 
  on 
  all 
  

   sides 
  except 
  from 
  the 
  east," 
  is, 
  as 
  already 
  stated, 
  very 
  easily 
  accessible 
  from 
  

   anywhere 
  from 
  W. 
  S 
  W., 
  around 
  by 
  south 
  to 
  southeast. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  face 
  of 
  all 
  these 
  facts, 
  though 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  possible, 
  yet 
  it 
  certainly 
  seems 
  

   hardly 
  credible, 
  that 
  Mr. 
  King, 
  familiar 
  as 
  he 
  was, 
  or 
  at 
  least 
  ought 
  to 
  have 
  

   been, 
  long 
  previous 
  to 
  1871, 
  with 
  the 
  general 
  appearance 
  of 
  the 
  whole 
  region 
  of 
  

   country 
  immediately 
  to 
  the 
  north 
  and 
  northwest 
  of 
  Mount 
  Whitney 
  should, 
  on 
  

   reaching 
  in 
  1871 
  the 
  summit 
  of 
  the 
  peak 
  to 
  whose 
  crest 
  Mr. 
  Belshaw 
  and 
  I 
  

   lately 
  rode 
  our 
  mules, 
  have 
  failed 
  to 
  recognize 
  at 
  once 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  he 
  was 
  on 
  a 
  

   lower 
  and 
  a 
  different 
  peak 
  from 
  the 
  one 
  he 
  had 
  attempted 
  in 
  1864. 
  And 
  yet, 
  on 
  

   the 
  other 
  hand, 
  if 
  he 
  did 
  recognize 
  this 
  fact, 
  then 
  why, 
  on 
  his 
  return 
  from 
  the 
  

   trip 
  which 
  he 
  made 
  in 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1871 
  for 
  the 
  special 
  purpose 
  of 
  climbing 
  

   and 
  measuring 
  Mount 
  Whitney, 
  did 
  he 
  not 
  make 
  it 
  known 
  and 
  give 
  it 
  publicity? 
  

  

  In 
  any 
  case, 
  the 
  fullness 
  of 
  detail 
  with 
  which 
  Mr. 
  King, 
  in 
  '• 
  Mountainea-ing 
  

   in 
  the 
  Sierra 
  Nevada," 
  (pp. 
  277 
  and 
  278) 
  — 
  while 
  standing, 
  in 
  reality, 
  on 
  a 
  peak 
  

   over 
  five 
  miles 
  distant 
  from 
  the 
  one 
  which 
  he 
  says 
  was 
  under 
  his 
  feet 
  — 
  appears 
  

   to 
  recognize 
  all 
  the 
  topography 
  of 
  the 
  scenes 
  of 
  his 
  earlier 
  struggles, 
  and 
  of 
  hi.s 
  

   attempts 
  to 
  reach 
  the 
  summit 
  of 
  Mount 
  Whitney, 
  in 
  1864, 
  is 
  something 
  in- 
  

   teresting. 
  

  

  Certain 
  it 
  is, 
  however, 
  that 
  the 
  peak 
  which 
  for 
  over 
  three 
  years 
  has 
  borne 
  the 
  

   name 
  of 
  Whitney, 
  has 
  done 
  so 
  only 
  by 
  mistake, 
  and 
  that 
  a 
  new 
  name 
  must 
  be 
  

   found 
  for 
  it 
  ; 
  while 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  WHiitney 
  must 
  now 
  go 
  back 
  to 
  the 
  peak 
  to 
  

   which 
  it 
  was 
  originally 
  given 
  in 
  1864, 
  and 
  which 
  is, 
  in 
  reality, 
  the 
  highest 
  and 
  

   grandest 
  of 
  this 
  culminating 
  cluster 
  of 
  the 
  Sierra 
  Nevada. 
  

  

  Furthermore, 
  it 
  appears 
  that 
  Mouut 
  Whitney 
  not 
  only 
  retains 
  its 
  claim 
  to 
  

   being 
  the 
  highest 
  point 
  of 
  land 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  of 
  America, 
  but 
  that 
  its 
  

  

  