The lower slopes leading to the North Col were in good condition, the snow adhering to the ice beneath in the firmest way. This gave every hope that this condition would be maintained right up to the Col itself. However, at 1.30 p.m., while they were traversing the slopes half-way up to the North Col, at a rather gentler angle, sud-dently an ominous crack was heard running right across the face of the col. Immediately, snow began to slip, the leading party on one rope—Mallory, Somervell, Crawford and one porter—being carried down. After sliding about 150 ft., by the greatest luck the slide was checked, and all four were able to extricate themselves unhurt at the edge of the main slip. Looking round for the rest of the caravan, they saw some men on the snow still further below. They got down as quickly as possible and found that the second rope party, consisting of porters, had also stopped, but on the edge of a small ice cluff, some 60 ft. high, with a great crevasse at the foot. It was evident that the other two rope-loads had been swept over the cliff into the crevasse.
Getting down as quickly as possible, they were able to rescue three men, two of whom were buried deep in the snow.and were dug out just in time. One man was found upside down on the snow, but entirely unhurt, though dazed by his fall of 60 ft. The remainder of the porters were buried beyond hope of recovery alive, deep in the crevasse, with the main fall of the avalanche on top. All hands worked for some hours as hard as possible, but: were finally obliged to relinquish their efforts after recovering all but one man. The.six men recovered were all dead. It is terrible to think that no fewer than seven splendid porters lost their lives in. tragedy. No expedition which ever travelled in the Himalayas, or, for that matter, in any part of the world, was better served by its subordinates than we have been. The work done by the porters was prodigious and unparalleled.
Thus ends the first attempt to conquer the greatest mountain in the world.' From the experience gained this year, there is no reason to believe that a future effort will be unsuccessful, but Everest has two great allies—the extreme shortness of the time in which the weather is fine enough and the condition of the mountain suitable, and, when the weather is fine, and when the condition of the mountain is suitable, those terrible westerly winds.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.