Amid the séracs of the East Rongbuk Glacier.
Crossing a trough on the East Rongbuk Glacier.
Facing page 304.
At an altitude of about 20,500 feet, some crevasses intersected the now no longer snow-free surface of the glacier, and we put on the rope. Soon after midday we rounded the end of the east ridge of the North Peak and hove in sight of Camp III (21,000 ft.). Like Camp II, it was pitched on a layer of stones resting on the East Rongbuk Glacier. We found Strutt in residence, and he gave us the news. That morning Mallory, Morshead, Norton and Somervell had left for the North Col prior to their attempt on Mount Everest. High up on a terrace above the steep snow slopes immediately below the Col, we could see a cluster of tiny black dots—the tents of the North Col Camp. On the skyline, in the col itself, were seen more little black dots, but moving. Evidently the first party were out taking a constitutional.
For the next few days Camp III was to serve as my party’s advance base camp. Here it was that we overhauled our stores and equipment, especially the oxygen outfit. With feelings akin to dismay, suspicions that I had already formed at Camp I were confirmed; not one of the ten oxygen apparatus was usable. They had suffered so severely in the course of our travels across Tibet that most of the soldered metal joints leaked; washers had become so dry that the other joints could no longer be made gastight, and several of the gauges were out of action. Then again, neither of the two types of masks with which we were supplied could be used. The first of these, the so-called “economiser” pattern, by means of an arrangement of valves, allowed oxygen flowing from the apparatus to mix with the air on inhalation, but stored it up and thus prevented waste on exhalation of the breath. It was found that, owing to the resistance imposed by these valves upon breathing, the mask could not be used, the strain thrown upon the lungs being too great. The second type of mask had really been supplied for use in the event of the “economiser” failing to give satisfactory service. It was wasteful of oxygen because the gas supply was continuous, no matter whether the climber were inhaling or exhaling; thus during the periods of exhalation the oxygen issuing from the apparatus was wholly wasted. However, we found that this mask suffered from, amongst others, the same defect as the first; the resistance imposed upon the free passage of the breath was too much for the lungs. It must not be forgotten that the whole oxygen outfit—masks, apparatus, containers—was more or less experimental; the conditions under which it was to be utilised were practically unknown, and, in the circumstances, the design was the best that science could produce.