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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



The isles of the sea are not without 

 their claimants for honor. If, in our 

 extreme deference for crowns of snow, 

 ~we pass by the Hawaiian volcano Mauna 

 Kea (13,953), primate of the peaks of 

 the Pacific, and Fuji-San (12,365), the 

 sacred mountain of Japan, and its com- 

 peers, we shall find on the southern 

 island of New Zealand, at a latitude of 

 its hemisphere about that of our White 

 Mountains of New England, a splendid 

 range of glacier-bearing peaks, the 

 Southern Alps, culminating in Mount 

 Cook or Aorangi ( 12,349), a mighty pin- 

 nacle of rock and ice. On the island of 

 New Guinea also there are mountains of 

 even greater height, a peak of the Charles 

 Louis range, in the Dutch dominions, 

 being credited with an elevation of 

 16,730 feet.* In the Atlantic the Pico de 

 Teyde, on the island of Teneriffe, lifts 

 the summit of its graceful volcanic cone 

 to 12,182 feet. Spitsbergen, in the Arc- 

 tic, with its peaks rising 3,000 to 4,000 

 feet, one of which was climbed by 

 Scoresby in 1818, has invited several 

 able climbers since 18964 



But most recent geographical news I 

 presents the polar regions themselves as 

 a field for alpinism. Peary, in his last 

 expedition (1905), ascended a low peak 

 (2,050), and now among the interesting 

 details of Lieut. Shackleton's remarkable 

 explorations in the Antarctic we hear of 

 the discovery, in near proximity to the 

 pole, of a lofty plateau upon which his 

 party attained an altitude of 10,500, and 

 inferred that the southern end of the 

 axis of our planet is in this table land. 

 How appropriate if it were a culmi- 

 nating peak of it ! Pending such a reve- 

 lation and the subsequent conquest of 

 its summit, we can congratulate Profes- 

 sor David and his party, who, in con- 

 nection with this expedition, scaled 

 Mount Erebus (13,120) and brought in- 

 teresting reports from its ancient crater. 



* We note that a British expedition is now 

 being fitted out to explore these mountains. 



t First Crossing of Spitsbergen. Sir W. M. 

 Conway. London, Dent & Co., 1897. 



t Nature, March 25, 1909. 



FIRST ASCENTS 



Having presented a rough sketch of 

 the world-wide field, let us seek to fur- 

 nish somewhat more in detail a register 

 of the notable ascents accomplished in 

 these different regions, keeping so far as 

 may be to the chronological order of 

 their exploration, and endeavoring to 

 give proper credit, if not always, by 

 reason of the embarrassing wealth of 

 material, to individuals, at least to the 

 nationalities represented. 



To the average reader, unfamiliar with 

 the climber's craft, mere altitude is likely 

 to be the impressive fact in a compara- 

 tive appreciation of the difficulty and 

 danger of mountain ascents ; yet a table 

 of heights by no means conveys adequate 

 information upon these points. Aside 

 from the serious hardship occasioned to 

 nearly all persons at great altitudes, ap- 

 parently by the diminished quantity of 

 oxygen, even the loftiest summits might 

 prove of comparatively easy access, once 

 the base were reached. Judging from 

 its outline and snows, as shown in Signor 

 Sella's telephotographic view of the peak 

 from the Chunjerma Pass, Mount Ever- 

 est itself would be set down as an easy 

 mountain ; that is, as offering no serious 

 technical difficulties to the skilled 

 climber. Mont Blanc was first climbed 

 by an untrained Chamonix peasant, alone, 

 in a two days' trip. For difficulty and 

 danger, this monarch of the Alps is far 

 surpassed by many lesser peaks — nay, by 

 several of the aiguilles (needles) of its 

 own neighborhood — the Blaitiere, Grands 

 Charmoz, Dru, Grepon, and Dames An- 

 glaises ; yet these crags are only from 

 11,300 to 12,300 feet high, with their 

 bases high up on the outreaching spurs 

 of the great white mountain. 



It was as late as 1901, seven years 

 after his remarkable campaign in which 

 he had accomplished in one month eight* 



*Aiguille du Moine (11,198), Aiguille des 

 Charmoz (11,293), Petit Dru (12,2.45), Aiguille 

 de Grepon (11,447), Dent Blanche (14,318), 

 Zinal Rothorn (13,856), two peaks of Monte 

 Rosa (15,217 and 14,965), and the most diffi- 

 cult of the ascents of the Matterhorn (14,782), 

 that over the Zmutt arete. 



