The
Untraveled World is the autobiography of a famous mountaineer and
explorer named Eric Shipton. Shipton was born in 1907 in Ceylon, where his
father was a tea planter. The author shares his experience from East Africa. In
Kenya he arrives in 1928, where his first job was an apprenticeship on a large coffee
farm at Nyeri. Further in the book he discusses his visit to Himalaya and
Karakoram mountains. It was during the rule of Muhammad Nazim Khan that Shipton
visited Hunza.
In 1940 Government of India
offered the post of British consul-general in Kashgar to Shipton. Shipton says
that Kashgar post was founded in 1888 by Younghusband. The first incumbent
George MacCartney held the appointment for twenty-five years. Personally for me, the chapter on Kashgar is
very interesting as it gives insight to the political and social environment prevalent
at that time. Shipton accepted another position of consul-general at Kunming in
Yunna. Shipton also shares his experience of treks to Everest. In the concluding
chapters the author discusses competition in the mountaineering field and
wildlife. He believes that Karakoram, Kuen Lun, Alaska, Southern Andes are the field
of fresh endeavor even for the traditional mountaineer.
Shipton says: “The springs of enchantment lie within
ourselves: they arise from our sense of wonder, that most precious of gifts,
the birthright of every child. Lose it and life becomes flat and colorless...”
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