Himalaya

Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)

him-a'la-ya, the loftiest system of mountains in the world. It crosses southern Asia from northwest to southeast. The total length is about 2,000 miles. The width varies from 100 to 600 miles. The system consists chiefly of granitic rocks. It is rich in all sorts of valuable minerals. It contains the elevated plateau of Tibet, called "the Roof of the World." The head-waters of the large rivers of Asia drain its slopes. Mt. Everest, 29,012 feet, or five and one-half miles high, is probably the highest peak. On the northern side of the Himalayas, the snow line is at an altitude of about 17,400 feet; on the southern side, 16,200 feet. In 1907 Dr. Workman, a returning missionary, wrote in an interesting manner of a trip to this upper region: We camped at the highest altitude attained by man, 21,300 feet. From our camps on a snow plain surrounded by seven towering peaks, we ascended to a height where I stopped to take photographs as the mist was increasing, while Mrs. Workman climbed to a peak 23,300 feet above the level of the sea. Only once was this record broken, when I climbed a glacier, 23,394 feet. During the last five days of our climb the atmosphere was so rare we were unable to sleep. Avalanches in the Alps were miniature compared with those we saw in the Himalayas. Some were half a mile wide and plunged down precipitous slopes with a terrific roar. It was appalling in grandeur. I managed to make important scientific records. The Workmans found a people of Mongolian type at a height of 10,000 feet growing rye, wheat, oats, and barley, and even at 12,000 feet they saw a village where human beings were living in huts with white goats, fowls, marmots, and strange animals. At 14,000 feet the Workmans saw only a species of partridge and a pair of chough birds. The doctor said that above 16,000 feet there was practically no life.