The Highest Mountain Altitude ever reached by a Human Being
(23,490 feet above sea-level). A. Henry Savage Landor and four natives.
I am unable to give the men’s names here, lest I should expose them to further persecution from the Government of India, but we will call them A, B, C, D.
A, 45 years of age, after a good rest, had a fairly regular heart-beat, but very fast. He felt quite ill, and complained of a severe pressure at the temples and the top of the head. Every two minutes or so his lungs and heart showed some convulsive movements; also abnormal movements were noticeable in the centre of the chest. His pulse registered 105 beats a minute, and was extremely faint, while his temperature was 102°. This was the man who broke a blood-vessel.
B, a Shoka, 50 years old, and who had constantly lived at great elevations, had a stronger pulse, 80 pulsations per minute, with a temperature of 100°·2. His forehead was burning, and he had a strong buzzing in his ears. Pain and convulsive movements in the lungs, and also in the centre of chest, every few breaths.
C, a powerfully-built Shoka, felt abnormal weakness, [[93]]although his pulse was only 78, quite regular, but so faint that one could hardly feel it. The heart, too, beat quite feebly but regularly enough, when not exerting himself. He had bled considerably on the ascent. His temperature was 98°. His ears were buzzing, and he suffered from tormenting pressure in the temples, top and back of skull.
D, the Rajiput, astonished me very much. He only had 76 pulsations, very steady and strong, although he had bled profusely; his heart beat violently and throbbed alarmingly every few moments. His respiration was regular, but slightly quicker than normal. He complained of great heat in the head. His forehead was burning; his temples, he said, seemed as if they were being crushed in a claw of iron, and as if his skull would split. He suffered from great pressure in the tenderest spot on the top of his skull and also behind the head. His temperature was 100°·2.
All complained of great heaviness in the legs and arms, of dryness of the skin, particularly at the forehead and lips, and unquenchable thirst. The pupils of the eyes were in all cases abnormally contracted, although the light was not strong at the time of examination. [[94]]
I was impressed by the distinctness with which sounds travelled; voices sounding extraordinarily clear, quite crystalline, and if loud and near producing quite a sharp and uncomfortable impression upon the tympanum of one’s ears, notwithstanding that the rarefied air caused the sensation of having my ears stopped with cotton-wool.
After half-an-hour’s rest the observations upon myself were as follows:—120 pulsations per minute, and heart beating at a similar rate, rather stronger than usual, but quite regular. Temperature under tongue 99°·3. The forehead, unlike my men’s, quite cool but feeling very dry, and there remained a slight pressure along the fissures at the side of the skull. Both with me and with all my men the temperature of the body around the heart was greatly increased, and we all suffered from an insatiable thirst. We constantly filled our mouths with snow and melted it in order to appease the uncomfortable feeling, but in a moment the palate and throat felt quite dry, although, as I have stated, salivation was profuse, especially while eating or taking exertion.