Book Reviews 



327 



clearly before us. His journeys extended across the whole Alaska 

 Peninsula from the Canadian line to Kotzebue Sound, across the Seward 

 Peninsula, and along the greater part of the length of the Yukon and 

 the Tanana Rivers, and included also extensive trips through almost 

 uninhabited regions far to the north and south of the Yukon. In spite 

 of a similarity of conditions in the various trips, the interest is remark- 

 ably well sustained throughout. The mission work is but lightly touched 

 upon, but one feels the sympathy and understanding of the natives 

 that prompts his endeavor to help them to become "an Indian race that 

 shall be a better Indian race and not an imitation white race." The 

 book is manly, straightforward, and generous in spirit, and after read- 

 ing it one rejoices the more that this unselfish life of hardship and 

 service was crowned by an achievement that will make Hudson Stuck's 

 name long remembered among mountaineers. M. R. P. 



"The Conquest of The story of the three attempts made by Pro- 

 MouNT McKinley"* fessor Herschel C. Parker and Mr. Belmore 

 Browne to reach the summit of Mount Mc- 

 Kinley, the highest mountain in North America, is of absorbing interest 

 to mountaineers. It may be remembered that Professor Parker and 

 Mr. Browne were with Dr. F. A. Cook on the occasion of his second 

 attempt to climb McKinley, in 1906, and that after their return to the 

 coast Dr. Cook claimed to have reached the summit. The Parker- 

 Browne expedition of 1910 was undertaken primarily to prove the worth 

 of Dr. Cook's claim, disbelieved by them from the outset, as their 

 knowledge of the country satisfied them that no "dash to the summit" 

 could possibly have been made in the short time at Dr. Cook's disposal. 

 They were successful in this part of their venture, securing photographs 

 that disproved Dr. Cook's story, but their ascent of McKinley was 

 blocked at an altitude of 10,300 feet. These attempts, both undertaken 

 from the south, were followed by the still more arduous expedition of 

 1912, when, starting again from the south, they crossed the Alaskan 

 Range and made their attack on the summit from the northeast. It 

 was an heroic undertaking, involving the relaying of all their provisions 

 and outfits by dog sled across the unknown range and up to an alti- 

 tude of 11,000 feet, and thence back-packing to the camp at 16,615 feet, 

 from which the final attempts were made. While contributing greatly 

 to the knowledge of the country, and being in itself a noteworthy 

 achievement, this laborious route across the Alaskan Range cost them 

 their ultimate success. Within only three or four hundred feet of the 

 summit they were driven back by heavy storms. Their long fight with 

 the icy wilderness had taken the best of their strength ; their stomachs 

 revolted at the pemmican, their most important article of diet, and for 

 lack of food they were compelled to return after two storm-defeated 



_ * The Conquest of Mount McKinley. By Belmore Browne. With 100 illustra- 

 tions from original drawings by the author and from photographs and maps. 

 G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York and London, 1913. 381 pages. Price, $3.50. 



