140 



NA TURE 



[July 29, 1922 



A few remarks may be made on what there is to do. 

 Accurate comparison should be made between the 

 very typical glaciers of this far southern section of the 

 Himalayan range and those in Kashmir territory and 

 the Alps, on both of which much has been written. 

 The accompanying illustration (Fig. 1) shows the rugged 

 pinnacled surface, caused by difference in temperature 

 between 28 latitude and that of Kashmir some 6° 

 farther north, where the accumulation of both snow 

 and moraine is so similar to that in the Alps. Around 



Bhutan and on the Assam Range, with the elevation 

 of which Everest is closely connected. Since late 

 Pliocene time enormous disturbance and crushing on 

 the Tibetan plateau has taken place, disturbance well 

 displayed in the Naga Hills, on the Burrail range, 

 where the whole thickness of the Tertiary rocks, from 

 the base upwards, is seen elevated to 10,000 feet, 

 resting unconformably on a much older formation. 

 How much and how often has the course of the Arun 

 altered, and with it the Tsauspu. in that, geologically 



g. 1.— Mount Everest from the Rongbuk Glacier, nine miles north-west. 

 Mount Everest" (slightly reduced in width from the illustration facing p. 2t4). 



Mount Everest all is changed ; its height and isolation 

 alter all the usual conditions, even those of denudation. 

 It is desirable to know the thickness of the glaciers, 

 the stratification, rate of motion, how far the moraines 

 extend, and to what extent rocks in situ show the effects 

 of past glaciation. Among the members of this very 

 large expedition some should take such observations 

 and fewer be engaged in finding what height a man 

 can reach with or without oxygen. 



The extent of the moraines at the base of Mount 



Everest tell something of its history. They would be 



the same age approximately as those I have observed 



farther east on the south face of the Himalaya in 



NO. 2752, VOL. I 10] 



speaking, short lapse of time ? Mr. Mallory describes 

 this basal area and the surface of the Rongbuk Glacier, 

 comparing it with his knowledge of the Alps. I am 

 led to quote him (p. 192) : " The glacier is prostrate, 

 not a part of the mountain ; not even a pediment, 

 merely a floor footing the high walls. At the end of 

 the valley and above the glacier Everest rises not 

 so much a peak as a prodigious mountain mass." 

 The party — put at 12 Europeans, 500 mule-loads, 

 with number of coolies unknown — is to me, who worked 

 long ago, huge, and out of all proportion to what has 

 to be achieved, particularly as the first year's work 

 has been so well told, the survey and geological work 



