Dawn of Steam: Gods of the Sun (38 page)

What we do know, between observation and what Miss Bowe has been able to recall, is that these people are dedicated to their religion, which is some mixture of the tenets of Buddhism and worship of the mountains themselves. The religious leaders here are given especial respect in the community, and almost everyone shows signs of great devotion. They are also very respectful of their elders, giving even those who are not officially leaders of their communities a significant amount of say when dealing with their own families.

After the introduction and apparent recognition of Miss Bowe the old woman who first spoke to her in Spanish has permitted our people to share her home while we are learning. Though most of us preferred to stay in the more comfortable surroundings of the dirigible, those who are learning the language and teaching them English stay with the Shar Khombo.

From the journals of Gregory Conan Watts,

April 20th, 1817

27º58' N 86º54' E

While it is a far thing from fluency, Sir James, Miss Penn, and Miss Bowe have picked up enough of the Shar Khombo tongue to suffice for our purposes, and the woman, who is named Jamyang, has two grandsons who have volunteered to be our guides, both of whom have picked up some English, and speak a small amount of Spanish. Likely their grandmother taught them as some manner of curiosity.

I have still not been able to determine how long ago Dr. Bowe's visit might have been. Miss Bowe has some memory of the place still, and had cause to know that small bit of the tongue, so it must surely have been within her lifetime. Despite this, only the very aged of this community seem to have any memory of Dr. Bowe, though most of them have been quite eager to talk with Miss Bowe, as much as the language gaps allow.

They also seem quite respectful towards Miss Penn, whom they refer to as Pem, though I do not know the meaning. At first I thought it might be some mispronunciation, but they
have no other difficulty with ‘n’s, and did not refer to her thus until after some time and introduction.

Though the rest of us have not been sleeping within their village, we have still been spending a great deal of time among them to get used to their ways and culture – and to help contribute where we may in thanks for their generosity. The villagers certainly look at everyone with curiosity. I wondered quietly and, I hope, politely to Mr. Heller if it was likely they had ever seen an African before. He shrugged, smiled, and said I was welcome to ask them if I could figure out how.

The grandsons are called Goba and Dorje, both of whom have spent a good deal of time out on the mountains, and seem quite comfortable with the idea of climbing with us. There will be a few others as well who will help carry the gear and assist with at least some parts of the mountain, but I have not met all of these yet. Certainly the younger members of the tribe seem quite enthused with this undertaking.

It is possible some of the adults here may have attempted the climb, or at least a good portion of it, and given their reverence towards this highest of mountains in this range, I can at least be certain they are familiar with it. Once they understood that we would be making the first portion of the climb aboard the dirigible, they became particularly excited, and with that alone, we would have all the guides we could have wished.

Able to survey the mountain from this close of a distance, we have determined that we should be able to use the ship to safely take us about a third of the way up the mountain, possibly higher for a brief trip, though getting too close to the mountain face will be dangerous, even for as skilled a pilot as the Captain.

The final destination will be determined after a day is spent flying about the base of the mountain, trying to both find the best locations to set people down, and where we have the best chances of following the journals to try to locate Dr. Bowe's camps. We should not reach the heights which cause most of the difficulties Oxford has associated with travel to too great an elevation.

We have also been cautioned especially that when we do get to the higher reaches, we should not spend too much time there. Once we set our final camp, we will have one attempt at reaching the peak, and stay there only long enough to take the picture before we descend immediately. The first studies of the airships revealed that at great heights, many of the test pilots and crew had great difficulty with focus, and terrible headaches, so we are preparing now, and extensively setting into our minds the most basic goals for the time we reach whatever height we determine is our stopping point, be it the peak or somewhere short of it.

The Shar Khombo seem to understand the caution with which we are attempting to proceed, but there is always some chance for miscommunication. After we talked of Dr. Bowe, Goba and Dorje spent a good deal of time with their grandmother, who pointed often to various points about Chomolungma while speaking to them at length, so at least that portion of our goal seems to be well communicated to them. Miss Bowe has cautioned the rest of us to be prepared for what we may find, but seems reasonably optimistic that we might find what we are seeking, though it may take some digging. The Shar Khombo seem likewise optimistic in this, and many of the older people seem somewhat excited when the mention is made.

From the journals of Gregory Conan Watts,

April 22nd,
1817

27º58' N 86º54' E

We have completed our survey of the mountain and confirmed many of the details we were looking for. Sir James and his sister took many notes, in their own fashion, of the details that seemed similar to landmarks described in the journals, noted any apparent discrepancies or details which we could see from the air that might not have been apparent from the ground, and committed them to their notes for analysis. After once again revising the plan of attack between the pair of them, they again consulted Miss Bowe, and also reviewed what they could communicate with Jamyang, Goba, and Dorje.

Five other Shar Khombo have been recruited for the trip up the mountain. I am not yet certain what process was used to select them. They may be each a particular expert in certain parts of the mountain or the process of navigating it, which is certainly my hope, in the spirit of optimism. For all I can determine, they were simply those who were most enthusiastic about traveling in the airship or won some sort of drawing of lots. At the very least, there is no shortage of excitement here about the project ahead of us.

I have also discovered the source of the apparent 'mispronunciation' regarding Miss Penn. Here, Pem are some sort of people attributed some mystic capacity for communication with the spirits of the mountains. They are not precisely the same as the Buddhist monks and nuns that are included here, but fill some added role within their religious structure. While they certainly don't think Miss Penn to be one of these, she is still attributed some mystical capabilities. While the Shar Khombo are certainly more advanced than the Maori and the other more primitive cultures we have lived among, they are still quite isolated. Having Miss Penn along has unquestionably been useful when traveling through lands occupied by more primitive societies.

On just such a note, given Miss Penn's fascination with the beliefs of these outside societies, she believes that the name of the great mountain, Chomolungma, is the name of their great mother goddess, though she cannot be quite sure. From Miss Bowe's recollections and their recent attempts at discussion, these mountains were either named after the gods and goddesses of the Shar Khombo religion, or are those gods, given form, according to their beliefs. I suppose, based on the little I know of the deities important to those cultures we have encountered, that I should not be surprised. The mountains are certainly both very impressive, and are entirely central to the Shar Khombo's lives. I understand as well that there are a number of other Shar Khombo tribes. We just settled in to the one nearest to Chomolungma, where Dr. Bowe also notes having stayed a time before making his attempts upon the mountain.

Given his descriptions of the earliest portions of the climb, I am grateful we will be skipping those difficulties, for while easier by far than the highest reaches of the climb, it is still a very long walk through cold terrain and not without its difficulties. As it is, I am certain I will miss the airship almost immediately when the first night comes. In the times outside, my shoulder, thankfully, has not had problems with numbness, but it certainly aches at times.

Those of us intending to make the climb are staying with the Shar Khombo for the next two days to better adjust to the temperatures. Sir James and Miss Bowe will be making the final adjustments. At times he might prefer the comfort of the cartography room on the ship, but he needs to acclimate as well, and Miss Bowe is the most fluent in the local tongue. In any case, they are taking all the time they can to make sure every detail is accounted for, for which I must laud them. On the mountain, even a small mistake could lead to a quick death for all of us.

All of our equipment is prepared; we have been instructed in its use, and just for good measure, Miss Coltrane went back over all of it twice more today. With the conditions we are expecting, using the proper tools must be as close to second nature as possible. She took especial time with me showing me how to prepare and use the camera with the additional equipment on it. The Shar Khombo have also been informed about my shoulder, and are prepared to assist me as much as is possible. They are also most curious about the camera, which has left me with several pictures of our guides and the people of the village.

From the journals of Gregory Conan Watts,

April 23rd, 1817

27º59' N 86º55' E

We have begun our ascent up the mountain. The wind is mostly still today, which assisted greatly in the airship's being able to place us precisely and at as great a height as could be managed. Today is primarily to be used to get us used to the temperatures and the difficulties of camping at this height, as well as to set our camp here, where we can be easily supplied, as thoroughly as we are able.

After the trip in the dirigible, the Shar Khombo with us are mostly quite excited, and they seem eager to be going. This height must surely be casual to them, and the only thing they seem worried for is checking the reaches of snow above us for signs of avalanche. Tomorrow, we will be making our first real climb to get used to the effort involved, test our ropes and my shoulder, and then climb back to camp for our last night in relative comfort and easy supply.

So far, we have not had any real problems with the difficulties associated with altitude. The Shar Khombo village was not so far below this height, so perhaps we are used to it by now. Still, we have been cautioned to warn Sir James and our guides should we have any unusual difficulties. We are also going over the plans for tomorrow again and again, and practicing with our gear in these conditions that it might become easier to do, without having to think extensively on it in the days to come.

Goba and Dorje are going over their orders with our leaders for this trip again, making sure there can be no misunderstanding. They are also practicing their Spanish whenever Miss Bowe or Miss Penn will take a break from the preparations to work with them on it. They are picking it up more quickly than they have English, for at least they have some small start on that tongue through their grandmother. I still find this a curiosity, but who knows what contact might have been made at one time or another. At least it leaves us with better possibilities of translation.

The first priority once we have acclimated is scaling and scouting to locate Dr. Bowe's lowest surviving camp. No attempt to climb higher will be made until we have some sign of the doctor's passage or even Miss Bowe has given up and elected to make a push to find evidence higher up. When this has come up, the Shar Khombo have made some attempts to communicate something, but our shared words are not complex enough to fully understand. Because this region seems as easy to Miss Bowe as to the Shar Khombo, it is likely we may gain a better understanding in the coming days, as they are able to spend far more time in trading language instruction while the rest of us are practicing endlessly with ropes and crampons.

We will be leaving shortly before first light tomorrow, taking the easiest part of the climb in darkness and striking out for the more ambitious climbing at dawn, which clouds will seem to delay further. We should climb as much as possible before the day grows what the locals consider warm, the better to avoid falling ice and avalanche, though these worries
will be much greater further up.

From the journals of Gregory Conan Watts,

April 25th, 1817

27º59' N 86º55' E

We have
located Dr. Bowe's lower camp after acclimation and a little effort. The primary problem was the climb itself, for once we had made sufficient progress through early difficulties and learning by doing, the Shar Khombo were able to lead us directly to it. According to our guides, this site was used as Dr. Bowe's camp for all of his trips here, and is a site well known to the Shar Khombo themselves as a relatively safe place to rest and camp.

The site itself has only a single structure. Managing as best we could with a traded mixture of Shar Khombo and Spanish, we eventually understood that the original camp has been preserved and rebuilt a few times over. This was apparently not difficult: cold preserves, and the village had been involved in the construction. From the start, Dr. Bowe's European tools and building techniques were combined with local materials and standards for a mixture of European and Shar Khombo design. The camp is serving us as nicely as it did its original residents.