Into The Silence
Page 88
John Noel and his first wife, Sybille Moore Graham, had been married since November 14, 1914. Sybille accompanied her husband to Darjeeling in 1924 and embarked on a study of Tibetan folklore, which led to a forgotten but curious book, The Magic Bird of Chomo-Lung-Ma: Tales of Mount Everest, the Turquoise Peak (New York: Doubleday, Doran, 1931). For news of General Bruce’s collapse, see: “The Mount Everest Expedition,” Geographical Journal, vol. 63, no. 6 (June 1924), pp. 525–27. For the comings and goings at base camp, and between Camps I, II, III, and IV, see the typed copies of the individual camp diaries: RGS Box 41, File 3. As for the final retreat from the mountain, Bentley Beetham wrote a stirring account that included the phrase that serves as an epitaph for the entire effort: “The price of life is death.” See: “The Return Journey,” The Fight for Everest, 1924, pp. 155–92.
13: The Price of Life Is Death
In the final month leading to the last climb, Norton sent four dispatches from the mountain, all destined for the Times, according to the arrangement worked out by Hinks. On May 13 he wrote from the base camp on Rongbuk, the sixth dispatch of the expedition; it was published in London on May 31. Norton left a memorable account of the horrific conditions at Camp III encountered on May 10: “The wind appeared to be shot high in the air over the North Col, the Rapiu-La and the Lhakpa La, the three passes surrounding us, and, from some high point in the zenith, descended on our camp like a terrier on a rat-pit, and shook our little tents like rats.”
Mallory and Norton worked together on the next dispatch, sent on May 26 from “East Rongbuk Glacier”; anticipating the final assault, it sparked considerable interest when it appeared in print on June 16. By then, of course, Mallory and Irvine were dead. Their fate was the subject of Norton’s eighth dispatch, begun on the East Rongbuk on June 8, the day of their final effort, and completed with a contribution from Somervell on June 11 at base camp. News of the disaster reached Hinks in London on June 19 and was published in the Times on June 21. Norton’s dispatch of June 11 appeared in the newspaper on June 26. On June 14, he sent his final dispatch from the Rongbuk base camp. Published in London on July 5, it included Odell’s account of what he had last seen of Mallory and Irvine on the mountain.
All of these reports, together with four subsequent dispatches written from Kyetrak, the Rongshar Valley, Tingri Dzong, and Yatung, were published as: “The Mount Everest Dispatches,” Alpine Journal, vol. 36, no. 229 (November 1924), pp. 196–241. In this same number of the journal appeared the papers read at the joint meeting of the RGS and the Alpine Club held at the Royal Albert Hall on October 17, 1924. See: Charles Bruce, “The Organisation and Start of the Expedition,” pp. 241–44; Geoffrey Bruce, “The Journey through Tibet and the Establishment of the High Camps,” pp. 251–60; Norton, “The Personnel of the Expedition,” pp. 244–51, and “The Climb with Mr. Somervell to 28,000 Feet,” pp. 260–65; and Odell, “The Last Climb,” pp. 265–72. Odell recalled his excitement upon discovering fossils in a limestone band at 25,500 feet, even as he sought out the fate of his lost companions. Norton remembered Mallory: “A fire burnt in him, and it made him one of the two most formidable antagonists Everest has ever had. He was absolutely determined to conquer the mountain.”
The RGS formally acknowledged the loss of Mallory and Irvine in: “The Mount Everest Expedition,” Geographical Journal, vol. 64, no. 1 (July 1924), pp. 56–58. The RGS also published the proceedings of the October 17 meeting. See: C. G. Bruce, Geoffrey Bruce, E. F. Norton, and N. E. Odell, “The Mount Everest Expedition of 1924,” Geographical Journal, vol. 64, no. 6 (December 1924), pp. 433–69.
In his last dispatch, sent from Yatung, Norton wrote: “In the piping times of peace, how else than by such undertakings as Polar and Everest expeditions is the last flicker of the old spirit of adventure and enterprise which made the British Empire to be kept alive?”
Epilogue
For the memorial service at St. Paul’s, see: Right Reverend Henry Luke Paget, Lord Bishop of Chester, “Memorial Services in Memory of Men Killed on Mt. Everest,” Alpine Journal, vol. 36, no. 229 (November 1924), pp. 273–77. For Odell’s moving obituary of Sandy Irvine, see: Noel Odell, “Andrew Comyn Irvine, 1902–1924,” Alpine Journal, vol. 36, no. 229 (November 1924), pp. 386–89. Graham Irving, the schoolmaster who first introduced Mallory to the Alps, wrote his obituary. See: R. L. G. Irving, “George Herbert Leigh Mallory, 1886–1924,” Alpine Journal, vol. 36, no. 229 (November 1924), pp. 381–85. The tribute from the king, received by Sir Francis Younghusband, was printed in that same issue of the Alpine Journal, p. 195.
For a time there remained a sense that another expedition would be imminent—if not in 1925, then certainly the following year. On December 15, 1924, Norton summed up the challenge in a paper read before the members of the Alpine Club. See: E. F. Norton, “The Problem of Mt. Everest,” Alpine Journal, vol. 37, no. 230 (May 1925), pp. 1–21. Hingston reviewed the challenges of acclimatization. See: R. W. G. Hingston, “Physiological Difficulties in the Ascent of Mount Everest,” Geographical Journal, vol. 65, no. 1 (January 1925), pp. 4–23. Odell presented his findings as a geologist. See: Noel Odell, “Observations on the Rocks and Glaciers of Mount Everest,” Geographical Journal, vol. 66, no. 4 (July–December 1925), pp. 289–315.
For documents concerning the “Affair of the Dancing Lamas,” see Indian Office Records (IOR) Mount Everest File Parts 3 and 4 (IOR L/PS/10/778), and correspondence between the India Office and the Everest Committee (RGS Box 27, Files 6 and 7). The controversy was widely covered in the press, and records may be found in the clippings file of the Alpine Club Archives and in the collections of the Colindale Newspaper Library. See, for example, General Bruce’s article “Lamas of Tibet: From Monastic Cell to London Stage,” Times, January 21, 1925, p. 17, and “Seven Tibetan Lamas Arrive in London,” Sphere, December 6, 1924. On December 27, the Sphere published photos and a brief review under the headline “Tibetan Music at the Scala Theatre.” The interlude, the paper reported, “is one of the strangest and most bizarre things in London at the present moment … Giant horns send their thunderous notes pulsating through the theatre. At first the music seems to picture Chaos, but in a second or two one seems to visualize the birth of the world.”
For Bailey’s opposition to further Everest expeditions, see: India Office Records (IOR) Mount Everest File Part 1 (IOR L/PS/10/777) and Parts 3 and 4 (IOR L/PS/10/778) 1924. For his correspondence with the Everest Committee, see: RGS Box 24, File 2, and Box 1, File 20.
For the British Everest expeditions of the 1930s, see: Tony Astill, Mount Everest: The Reconnaissance 1935, published by the author, 2005; Hugh Ruttledge, Everest 1933 (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1934; published in the United States as Attack on Everest [New York: Robert McBride, 1935]) and Everest: The Unfinished Adventure (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1937); and H. W. Tilman, Mount Everest 1938 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1948).
In 1950 Teddy Norton, at the age of sixty-eight and by then retired, reviewed these failed attempts, even as he sought to rekindle interest in another assault from the North Col. He was certain that the couloir that by then bore his name could be successfully climbed, assuming the weather cooperated and the porters proved to be as stouthearted as the men he had come to know in 1922 and 1924. “The rest,” he wrote, “is on the knees of the Gods.” See E. F. Norton, “Mount Everest: The Last Lap,” Alpine Journal, vol. 57, no. 280 (May 1950), pp. 285–92.
For the Swiss attempt from Nepal in 1952 that came so close to success, see: R. Dittert, G. Chevalley, and R. Lambert, Forerunners to Everest (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954). For Hillary and Tenzing’s historic climb in 1953, see: John Hunt, The Ascent of Everest (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1953), and Jan Morris, Coronation Everest (London: Faber and Faber, 1958). For the life of Tenzing Norgay, see: Ed Douglas, Tenzing: Hero of Everest (Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Books, 2003); Tenzing Norgay and James Ramsey Ullman, Man of Everest: The Autobiography of Tenzing (London: George Harrap, 1955); and Te
nzing Norgay and Malcolm Barnes, After Everest: An Autobiography (London: Allen & Unwin, 1977). For a beautiful book that acknowledges the heroism of a father, even as a son seeks to forge his own identity on this mountain of all desires, see: Jamling Tenzing Norgay and Broughton Coburn, Touching My Father’s Soul (New York: HarperCollins, 2001).
For the Chinese expeditions with photographs that capture the ideological thrust of their efforts, see: Another Ascent of the World’s Highest Peak—Qomolangma (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1975), and A Photographic Record of the Mount Jolmo Lungma Scientific Expedition (1966–1968) (Peking: Science Press, 1977).
For the three letters found on Mallory’s body, as well as twenty-seven letters of condolence written to Ruth at the time of his death, see: Mallory Papers, Box 7, Magdalene College Archives, Cambridge. For Conrad Anker’s insights, see: The Lost Explorer (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999).
In a letter home, Billy Grenfell, age twenty-five, tried to explain life on the Western Front. “Death is such a frail barrier out here,” he wrote, “that we cross it, smiling and gallant, every day.” Billy was killed on July 30, 1915, leading a suicidal charge at Hooge, within a mile of where his brother Julian, age twenty-seven, had fallen on May 13, struck in the head by a shell fragment. Julian, a poet, died of his wounds four weeks later, his mother at his side. In the carnage of the Ypres Salient, Billy was buried in haste, his body lost, never to be recovered.
Index
The page references in this index correspond to the printed edition from which this ebook was created. To find a specific word or phrase from the index, please use the search feature of your ebook reader.
abominable snowman, 353
Abors, 208–9
Above the Snowline (Dent), 69
Abraham, Ashley, 157–8
Abraham, George, 126
Abruzzi, Duke of, 70, 75, 78, 125, 138, 391, 428
acclimatization, 69, 78, 126, 510
“Affair of the Dancing Lamas,” 562–4
Afghanistan, 40, 47, 51, 72, 294, 375–6, 523
Aga Khan, 468
airplanes: in mountaineering, 100, 108, 112, 140; in warfare, 15, 16, 93, 126
Allen, Lancelot, 187
Alliance Bank of Simla, 456
Alpine Club, 77, 137, 143, 148, 155, 167, 168, 176, 183, 371, 473, 485; Bruce as president of, 456; first Everest expedition and, 68–9, 70–1, 73–5, 83, 100, 101, 109, 126, 156; generational rift among climbers and, 457; joint meeting of RGS and (1922), 457–8; Mallory and Irvine memorialized at joint meeting of RGS and, 560–1
Alpine Club of America, 466
Alpine Club of Canada, 217
Alpine Journal, 68, 69, 168
Alps, 76–7, 130, 143, 144, 147–8, 155, 168–9, 176, 177, 203, 261, 283, 346, 370, 371, 377, 380, 475, 534; glaciers as easiest routes of approach in, 274; Mallory’s ascents in, 8–9, 168–9, 177–8, 183–4; Mallory’s honeymoon plans in, 184–5
Amarkantak, India, 103
Amo Chu, 116, 218, 219
Ampthill, Lord, 61
Amritsar Massacre (1919), 294–5, 296, 390
Anderson, Graeme, 145–6, 148, 152, 370, 413, 468–9
Angdanel, 350
Anglo-Chinese Treaty (1893), 52
Anglo-Chinese Treaty (1906), 118
Anglo-Russian Boundary Commission (1885), 51
Anglo-Russian Convention (1907), 74, 118
Ang Pasang, 327, 355, 356, 358
Angtarkay, 483
Ang Tenze, 323
Anker, Conrad, 567–9, 570, 571–3
Antarctica expeditions, 110, 383, 487, 488; applications for first Everest expedition from veterans of, 128–30
anthropology, 46
Apostles (secret society), 173–4
Araguaya, 37
Ari, 214, 215
Armstrong, John, 45
Army and Navy Stores, 157, 394, 482
Arnold, Edward, 380
Arras, Battle of (1917), 105, 193, 194, 195, 211
Arun, 82, 238, 258, 259, 282, 297–8, 338; crossing of, 80, 83, 242; great gorge of, 83, 250, 257, 308, 326, 447; headwater tributaries of, 224, 239, 298 (see also Phung Chu)
Asghar Khan, 260, 264, 285
Asquith, Herbert, 183
Asquith, Raymond, 196
Asquith, Violet, 188
Assam, 63, 208, 209, 210
Assault on Mount Everest, The (Bruce), 460
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs), 133
Austrian royal family, Strutt’s rescue of, 380
avalanche, Sherpas’ death at Everest in (1922), xv, 3, 443–6, 450–3, 483, 504
Ayi La, 67
Baden-Powell, Robert, 8
Badminton Magazine, 86
Badrinath, India, 103, 245
Baghdad, British capture of (1917), 232
Bailey, F. M., 50, 63, 75, 84, 113, 209–11, 212, 214, 257, 367, 491, 492, 563, 564
balloon ascents, 125–6
Baltoro Kangri, 70
Bam Tso, 225
Bapaume, Battle of (1918), 392
Barham, 4
Barrie, J. M., 94
Basra oil fields, 232
bayonets, 14, 16, 30, 35
Beetham, Bentley, 48, 485, 502, 552, 556, 560; configuration of climbing parties and, 495, 496, 512, 524, 528, 532; final campaign of 1924 expedition and, 527–8, 550; first failed campaign and, 505, 508, 509; Graham’s dismissal and, 473–4, 493; health problems of, 490, 491, 492–3, 512, 514, 524, 528; invited to join 1924 expedition, 471, 472; journey of, from Darjeeling to base camp, 486, 488, 490, 491, 492–3; on Rongbuk Monastery, 553; second failed campaign and, 519, 521, 522; on Sherpa character, 526
Bell, Charles, 112–16, 118–24, 132, 258, 311, 366–7, 369, 382, 563; arms deal with Tibet brokered by, 115, 121–2, 123, 124, 440; background of, 113–14; complaints about behavior of 1921 expedition and, 366–8, 389, 395; cultural sensitivity of, 114, 116; Dalai Lama’s permission for Everest expedition secured by, 123–4, 160, 223; Dalai Lama’s relationship with, 113, 114, 116, 120, 122–3, 124, 366; Howard-Bury briefed on history of British-Tibetan relations by, 118–22; Howard-Bury’s meeting with, 112, 114–16, 118, 364; Lhasa left by, 440; Lhasa mission of, 122–4
Bell, Clive, 174, 186, 200
Bell, D. A., 190, 191
Bell, Vanessa, 174, 183, 200
Belloc, Hilaire, 59, 173–4
Belvedere (Westmeath, Ireland), 103, 104
Benson, Arthur, 169–71, 172, 173, 176, 188, 467
beyuls (sacred valleys), 254, 299–301
Bhote Kosi, 320, 321
Bhutan, 47, 209
Bhutia Nepalese, 78–9. See also Sherpas
Bible Society, 158
Binney, George, 577
Bioscope, 562
Blenk, Karl, 30
Blodig, Karl, 178
Bloomsbury set, 174–5, 186
Boer War, 13, 14
Bon (Bonpo), 66–7, 219
Bonacossa, Count Aldo, 143
Bonington, Sir Chris, 568
Boswell, James, 180, 183, 466
Boy’s Own Paper, 166
Bradford, William Russell, 128
Brahmans, 73
Brahmaputra River, 83; exploration of, 50, 63, 66, 75, 86, 207, 208–10, 257, 363; upper (see Tsangpo River and Gorge)
Breashears, David, 567
Bridges, Robert, 183; The Spirt of Man and, 94, 416, 492, 507, 560
British Empire, 41–68; exploration imperative and, 46, 47, 49–50, 63–7; Mallory’s generation nursed on stories of, 166–7; public schools’ creation of cadre for, 167; Raj and, 41–6, 47, 49 (see also India); rivalry between Russian Empire and, 51, 52–3, 54, 57, 60; territories acquired by, 46–7, 91; Tibetan nationhood and, 48, 49; World War I and power of, 91
British Empire Exhibition (London, 1924–25), 480, 497
British Expeditionary Force, 9–12
British Museum (London), 137
British Ornithologists’ Union, 138–9
Brittain, Vera,
89, 198, 200
Brooke, Rupert, 172–3, 174, 175, 176, 177, 183, 186, 187–9; death of, 187–8; “The Soldier” by, 188
Bruce, Charles, 71–3, 84, 85, 86, 110, 125, 127, 144, 146, 379, 386, 435, 458, 476, 486; as Alpine Club president, 456; base and advanced camp organization and (1922), 403, 407–9, 411, 412, 417; as candidate to lead 1921 expedition, 131, 132, 135; clothing for mountain travel and, 482; in Darjeeling at start of 1922 expedition, 376–7, 389, 393–4; in Darjeeling at start of 1924 expedition, 482–3; Dzatrul Rinpoche’s meetings with, 404–6, 446, 447, 500; early interest in Everest of Younghusband and, 46, 56, 63, 100; education of, 71–2; evacuated to Sikkim, 489–92, 493, 508; as Everest Committee chair, 455, 456; family background of, 71–2; final dispatch of 1922 written by, 493; Finch’s assessment of, 390; Finch’s dismissal and, 461, 462, 463; first serious proposals to attack Everest and, 73, 75; in Gallipoli campaign, 132–5; health problems of, 468–9, 470, 488, 489–92, 493; injuries sustained by, 135; joint meeting of RGS and Alpine Club addressed by (1922), 457; journey of, from Darjeeling to base camp (1922), 394–5, 396, 398–408; journey of, from Darjeeling to Yatung (1924), 486, 488, 489–92; Longstaff sent back to Darjeeling by, 440–1; Mallory’s and Irvine’s death and, 558, 560; medical reviews of, 146–7, 370, 468–9, 488; military career of, 72–3, 132–5; Morris’s first meeting with, 376–7; named leader of 1922 expedition, 131, 369–70; named leader of 1924 expedition, 461, 468–9, 470, 479; Noel’s photographic documentation and, 384; opinions of, on his colleagues, 381, 387, 388; organization of 1924 expedition and, 454–6, 461–2, 470, 471, 472, 473, 481–3; personality and demeanor of, 72, 132; porters and cooks hired and managed by, 393–4, 402, 407, 408–9, 411, 468, 483, 493, 523; selection of 1922 team and, 372; Sherpas’ death in avalanche and, 445, 446, 451–2; Somervell’s film score and, 471; summit attempts and, 402–3, 413–14, 417, 418, 428, 437, 438–9, 440–1, 442, 445, 451–2; supplemental oxygen and, 385, 387, 395, 487; Times dispatches of, 408, 437, 451; Times interview with, 454–5; travels of, on way to Darjeeling (1924), 481–2; on tribal and ethnic groups’ qualities, 73, 78