NEW YORK WELCOMES RETURN OF FLIGHT HEROES Rain failed to dampen the ardor of Gotham's acclaim of Commander Byrd and his courageous crew, when they arrived together on the Leviathan, July 18, 1927. They proceeded up Broadway to City Hall, where they were officially greeted amid the cheers of thousands of people. 30 miles an hour by flying at about a twomile altitude. The air navigator of the future will be in constant touch by radio, and there will be radio stations to give him accurate information of weather all along the route, so that he can alter his course to get the maximum advantage from the wind. He will have flares, which will ignite upon hitting the water, for getting his wind drift at night, and he will have powerful candle parachute flares which will light up the surrounding country in case of a necessary landing at night. We believe that the America possessed all the essential qualifications in itself for a safe transatlantic flight. What must be done now is to build a similar plane of twice its size, establish a meteorological organization, and provide large concrete take-off and landing fields and radio beacons and direction-finding stations all along the land part of the route, especially at the landing base. When this is done, I would not hesitate to take with me across the Atlantic my closest friends or relatives. We feel that our fight with the elements and our labor and preparation are well worth while if we, even in a small degree, helped the progress of aviation and international good-fellowship. THE COPYRIGHT, 1927. BY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY, WASHINGTON D. C.. IN THE UNITED STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN BY COOLIE AND CARAVAN ACROSS Narrative of a 7,900-Mile Journey of Exploration and Research Over "the Roof of the World," from the Indian Ocean to the Yellow Sea BY WILLIAM J. MORDEN With Illustrations from Photographs by the Morden-Clark Asiatic Expedition N ORTH of India and Kashmir, across the snowy ranges of the Himalaya and Karakoram, lies a vast area known as central Asia. It is a land of varying characteristics, comprising beautiful mountains, tremendous deserts, and fertile oases. The western part is under Russian domination, but the eastern portion is ruled by the Chinese, who call it "Sinkiang" (the New Dominion). Sinkiang, or, as it is more generally known, Chinese Turkestan, has for many centuries been the scene of varied migrations, conquests and reconquests. Across it lay the great trade route by which silk was first brought from China to Rome. MARCO POLO DISCOVERED THE OVIS POLI Through its northern part stretches the Tien Shan, the Celestial Mountains of the Chinese. Among the snowy peaks ibex are found, and the forested lower slopes are the homes of wapiti and roe deer. Wild sheep roam the rocky hillsides of the range, and gazelle frequent the barren plains north and south of it. But it is the Pamir, the high, bleak region of southwestern Chinese Turkestan and southeastern Russian Turkestan, which holds one of the most interesting wild sheep of the world. There range Ovis poli, named for Marco Polo, who first brought word of their existence when he returned to Venice, in the thirteenth century, after his wanderings across Asia. Record Ovis poli horns far exceed the measurements of those of any other known sheep. Though they have been shot at various times, no comprehensive single collection had been previously obtained. In 1923, while collecting in the Himalaya of Baltistan and Ladakh, I made inquiries regarding the possibility of a future expedition into the Pamir. All information was that Ovis poli were very scarce. Reports indicated that there had been an epidemic of some disease which had so reduced the number of these sheep that there seemed little chance for a successful expedition. I noted, however, that all these reports came from Chinese Turkestan, and that none indicated what conditions might be were an expedition able to operate on the Russian side. The idea occurred to me that it might be possible to find these sheep in greater numbers if permits to hunt there could be obtained. HOUSEBOATS ARE NUMEROUS AND POPULAR IN SRINAGAR Foreigners cannot own land in Kashmir, and as a result there has grown up a widespread custom of using houseboats for residential purposes. The Carrying a road through the Burzil Pass was one of many engineering achievements of India. The work was done at an altitude of more than 13,000 feet, in the face of blizzards and avalanches. The author's expedition was the first to cross the pass in 1926, and was nearly a month earlier than the first party in 1925. Although this valley appears open and easy, it is dangerous in March and April because of frequent landslides. |