May 5, 1904] 



NA TURE 



Briefly summaribud, Mr. Freshfield's tour was as 

 ImHows: — Starting- from Darjeeling he made his way 

 up the valley of the Teesta River, which, running 

 -I'Lithward, bounds the whole of the Kanchenjunga 

 r ingc on its eastern side; leaving this valley the Zemu 

 River was followed until the Zemu glacier was 

 1' ached. Here it was that the party were overtaken 

 i'> the great storm of September, 1899, which " after 

 ili\astating Darjeeling, swept across Kanchenjunga 

 into Tibet in the form of a premature snowfall, lower- 

 ing the snow-level nearly 4000 feet and practically 

 I Ki>ing the highest region." As there was no wind 

 the- snow did not drift, but after the storm was over 

 it lay between three and four feet deep round the tents. 



.Such conditions would have turned back most 

 n.ivellers and stopped any attempts to cross passes 

 n ..re than jo.ooo feet Iiigh. INIr. Frohfield, howex'er. 



.\s the party were now in forbidden countrv, some 

 an.viety was felt as to their reception by the inhabitants, 

 but with the exception of one oflficial no trouble was 

 met with, and as an excuse for the trespass it was 

 pointed out that, driven by the great snowstorm over 

 the pass, the party were seeking their way back to 

 British territory, and that obviouslv their nearest way 

 was down the Kanchen vallev, thence by the Chun- 

 jerma and Kang La back to Darjeeling. 



From many points of view this work of Mr. Fresh- 

 field's is of interest; it is a delightful record of moun- 

 tain exploration, it is splendidly illustrated, and the 

 descriptions of ice-clad mountains, of tropical forests, 

 and of the great beauty of the atmospheric effects in 

 this great mountain range are all given most admirably 

 by the author. Moreover, many most interesting 

 bcientitic and geographical prnhlems are di«ru^^pd. 



-Camp below the y 



was not discouraged, and although even a partial 

 ascent of Kanchenjunga was out of the question, still 

 he managed to lead the party over the northern ridge of 

 the Kanchenjunga range and to explore some totally 

 new ground in eastern Nepal. Before doing this he 

 moved north-eastwards to Lhonak. It was from here 

 that the party, together with the baggage train of 

 coolies, crossed over the Jonsong La (20,207 feet). On 

 the west side of this pass lay Nepal, an unknown land. 

 For several days the route lay downwards over 

 glaciers, and it was only after nearly a week spent on 

 the ice and snow that the party finally arrived at the 

 upper grazing grounds of the cattle belonging to the 

 Nepalese village of Kangbachen. Here it was that 

 they connected their route with that of Sir Joseph 

 Hooker, who fiftv vears previouslv had visited this 

 vallev. 



NO. iSoi, VOL. 70] 



d Kanchenjunga," by Mr. Douglas W. Freshfield. 



One important question was as to whether there are 

 peaks higher than Mount Everest lying further to the 

 north in Tibet. Twenty years ago Mr. Graham, from 

 the summit ridge of Kabru, at a height of more than 

 20,000 feet, asserted that he saw two peaks, one 

 covered with snow and one of rock, further north than 

 Mount Everest, and that they appeared as high, 

 possibly higher, than Mount Everest. This statement 

 has been partly confirmed by native explorers. That 

 high peaks exist there is undoubted, and one was seen 

 from the Chunjerma Pass by Mr. Freshfield. .Also 

 more recently a photograph taken by Mr. H. H. 

 Hayden, and published in the Geographical Journal 

 (1904, 362), shows these peaks. Mr. Freshfield, com- 

 menting on this photograph, says : — " Somewhat to 

 the north-west of Chomokankar (Mt. Everest) appears 

 a great group of peaks ; one rock and one snowy 



