draws men to it. And Natural
Beauty is what, above everything else in regard to the unknown
region, stands out in men's memories on their return.

This at any rate is my own experience, and we are perhaps on safer
ground when we speak of what we have ourselves experienced than
when we speak of what we imagine must be the experiences of
others. Though in this case I have good reason to believe that my
own experiences are very similar to the experiences of others, and
may therefore be taken as typical.

Almost my earliest recollections are of a Somersetshire village set in
a lovely valley, fringed with woods and surrounded by hills. Up the
hills on the side of the valley on which I lived I used constantly to
go. But over the hills on the far side of the river I was never taken.
So I used to picture to myself wonderful woods and rivers, and
castles and great cities, and I longed to go there. The lure of Natural
Beauty was beginning to make itself felt. As I grew to boyhood I
was fortunate enough to be taken to North Wales, Devonshire and
Cornwall, and later on to Switzerland and the South of France, and
everywhere I saw much Natural Beauty. But, still, that only made
me want to see more.

In all these cases, however, I only went where I was taken. I did not
go where I chose or with an object of my own. It was not till I was
in India and had the first leave from my regiment that I could go
where I liked. Now, where I liked was to the Himalaya. And if I
look back now and enquire of myself what made me choose the
Himalaya, I can say most clearly that it was because I had in my
mind a vision of long snowy ranges, and dazzling peaks, and
frowning precipices, and rushing torrents, and endless forests. I
thought how glorious it would be to be able to wander about at will
and see all the magnificent scenery, to feast on the Natural Beauty,
and when I came back to be able to tell others of the wonders I had
seen.

So I made my first short trip in the Himalaya. But this only served to
arouse my curiosity still more. I had seen some great mountains. But
they were none of them more than 20,000 feet in height. I wanted to
see still higher mountains. I heard, too, that up the valley of the
Sutlej were some fearful gorges through which the river forced its
way. I wanted to see them too, and see a great river in the very act of
forcing its way through the mighty Himalaya. Above all, I wanted to
see what lay on the other side of the