The Marching Wind
by Clark, Leonard (Leonard Francis)
pub by Funk & Wagnalls, NY, 1954 - - isbn (none this edition ) LCCN = 54009738 - illustrations, photos. - - 368 p.
Clark was an OSS operative during WWII. Shortly after the war, he heard tales from aviators who flew the hump supplying the war against Japan in China, of a mountain which was thought to be taller than Mt. Everest. Clark wanted to take an expedition to the mountain ( Amne Machin ) to determine its height and generally explore. In 1948, when the expedition took place, China was in the midst of a civil war, between the armies of the Republic of China (PRC) led by the Kuomintang (Chiang Kai-shek) and the Communist Party of China (Mao Zedong). The war was not going well for the PRC. Clark convinced the general of the army PRC army which operated in southwestern China that such an expedition might provide information about a possible escape route in the event he and his army needed to flee.
An expedition was put together. It consisted of some regular army troops, some of which were Buddhists and some of which were Muslims as well as a few Mongolians. This mix made victualing interesting as the dietary rules of each group was different. They traveled toward Amne Machin which is on the border with Tibet, and the source of the Yellow River. As might be expected they had some adventures. They encountered a Chinese ambassador to a western country on vacation living in silk tents. They also encountered the rather fierce Ngolok tribal inhabitants of the region and managed to pass peacefully among them. Measurements taken with surveying tools showed that the mountain was probably not as tall as Mt. Everest. The expedition returned and Leonard Clark exited the area through Hong Kong.
Amne Machin Mountains. China. - Qinghai Sheng (China)--Description and travel. It should be noted that Leonard Clark was an adventurer and went on to adventures in the upper Amazon resulting in his book The rivers ran east (1953) and the Yucatan in Mexico described in Yucatan adventure (1959) neither of which I have read.
~1969~

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