Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/90

* MOUNTAIN CLIMBING. 70 MOUNTAIN PLANTS. fall takes place because the climber is overtired, or has started too (luickly, without the neces- sary training and hardening, in consequence of which at a critical moment some nuisclc fails to answer. Overexertion (f either body or mind is always to be avoided: for alertness of both is essential. The rope is the sheet anchor of mountaineering, whether it be on the snow or on the equally dangerous grassj' slopes. On really ditTieuH mountains no more than three jwrsons should be on the same rope. With the rope the ice-axe is used, and indeed is a very neces- sary adjunct to the climber. It consists of a steel axe with a cutting edge crosswise to the handle, like an adze and a pick. The handle is of such length that it makes a convenient stair, and is shod with a steel point. The cut- ting edge of the axe is enijjloyed for making steps in an ice wall, the pick for holding and aiding the climber in pulling liimsclf up, while the a.e when used as a staff or alpenstock enables the climber to hold securely, or it can l>e employed as a brake when descending. Acci- dents which come from the fall of large masses of rock, snow, or earth may be largely obviated by a careful observation of the position of the svm with regard to snowfields below upon which the path is to be taken. If the snow begins to slide, carrying the climber with it, the utmost nimbleness of resource, wit. and strength applied to the alpenstock as a brake is the only rcme<Iy that can he formulated beforehand. In ascencj- ing an ordinary couUiir the axe must be con- stantly used for culling footholds step by step. The list on the preceding page presents some of the principal first ascents since the earliest authentic reconls. Consult: J. Forbes. TrareJn Through the Alps (Edinburgh. 1843) ; A. W. lloore. The Alps in ISd'i. from MS. copy (Edinburgh, 1902); J, Ball and E. R. Kennedy. Peaks, Pnssrs, and Glacierx (London. 18.50-2) : G. Studer. I'eber Eis und fichncr (Hern, 1809-71): .T. Tyn- dall, Mountiiineering in ISli] (London, 1862) ; id.. Hours of Exercise in the Alps (ib., 1871) ; L. Stephen, The Plaijground of Europe (ib., 1871): E. Whym])er, Srrmnhks Among the Alps (ib., 1871): id.. Travels in the Great Andes of the Equator (lb., 1892); C. T. Dent. Ahore the Snou-linc (ib.. 1885) ; Clarence King. Moinilninrcring in the Sierra Xerada (Hoston, 1880) ; '. M. Conway, flimbing in the KiirnlornmJJimalinias (London, 1894): id.. The Alps from End to End (ib.. 189o) ; id.. The Bo- lirian Andes (New York. 1901) : A. F. Munuuery, .If.i/ C'limhs in the Alps and Caneai^us (ib.. 189;)) ; E. A. Fitzgerald. Climhs in the AVir Zealand Alps (ib., 1890): id.. The Hiqhest Andes (ib., 1899) : F. M. H. Workman. /» the Tee ^■orld of the lllmiilai/a (New York. 1898) ; C. E. irathews. The Annals of Mont filanr and the Matlerhorn (Tx)ndon. 1898) : F. He Filippi. The Ascent of Honnl .S'HiH/ Elias (London. 1900) : W. D. Wil- cox. Camping in the Canadian Rockies (New York. 1900) ; .T. N. Collie. Cllnihing in the llima- lagas and Other ^tf,llntllins (Edinburgh, 1902), For recent .merlran mountaineering, consult Appalnehia. vols, i.-jx. (Roston, 18701902). and fiicrra Club litillclin. vols, i.-iii. (San Francisco, is9ri lon.TK MOUNTAIN GAZELLE. See Cazei-I.E. MOUNTAIN GOAT. See Rocky Mointain ^V)IITE (JOAT. MOUNTAIN HERRING. The Rocky Moun- tain wliilclish {Cor< ijijniis Williunisoni), found in clear streams from tlic northern Rocky ^lountain ranges to the Pacific coast. It is good food, and is esteemed by ;inglers, as it readily takes a fly. Sec Wiiiteflsh; and Plate of WiHTEFi.sn. Smelts, etc. MOUNTAIN LIMESTONE. The basal strata uf llic ('arbimiferous series in the south of England and Wales. It is highly fossiliferous and carries a few ores. Its chief use is for building stone. The term was applied to the cal- careous rocks of the American Subcarboniferous, but soon fell into disuse. MOUNTAIN LION. The name in the west- ern ])art of the United States for the panther, cougar, or puma {Felis concolor). Early writers upon America reported that the lion was a resi- dent of North America from the skins they saw among the Indians, which they supposed to be those of lionesses. See PiMA, MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. In .mcrican history, the massacre, near Jloun- tain Meadows in Utah, in September, 1857, of a jiarty of emigrants from Arkansas and Jlissouri ])assing through Utah on their way to Southern California. They nuiiiliered all told about 140 men, women, and children. On their way they were everywhere refused food until they reached the neighborhood of .Mountain Meadows, a valley in Iron County, about .'JoO miles south of .Salt Lake City, Here they stopped to rest their horses, and on September 7, 1857, were fired u|ion by Indians, and, it is alleged, by ^lormons disguised. They withstood siege until Sejitember Ilth, when, on promise of protection by .lolin D, Lee (q.v.), Mormon bi.shop and Indian agent, they left the shelter qf their wagons. All adults and children over seven years of age were killed, and seventeen younger children were distributed among Mormon families, but were afterwards restored to rela- tives by the United .States Government. Lee was executed for this crime in 1877. and though the effort to inculpate other high ollicers of the Church failed, there can be little doubt that the project was known and a))])roved by them, espe- cially since lirighani Young (q.v.) had a .short time before announced that "no person shall be allowed to ]iass or repass into or through or from this territory withoul a permit from the jiroper ofiicer." II. II. IJancroft in his History of Utah (San Francisco. 188.'{| places blame on l.ee en- tirely. Consult: lAnn, Story of the Mormons (New York. 19021: and Confessions of John D. Lee (Saint Louis. 1891). MOUNTAIN MOCKING-BIRD. See MocK- IXG-1'.lHll. MOUNTAIN PLANTS. The chief features of mountain |)]anls liave been discussed under the hca<l of AllM.xK I'l.A.XT. At the bases of most movmtains the vegetation closely resembles lliat of the surrounding lowlands, but with I'levation changes a)quar whieh correspond to the changes observed as the globe is traversed toward high latitudes. For example, in the mountains of Mexico the typical vegetation of the lowlands gives place with ascent to various zones of trees, including forms which are deciduous like those of the United States, then conifers like those of the Northern United States and Canada, and finally into mosses and liclwns characteristic of the alpine regions. Mountains contain a large