Arrival in Darjeeling

22nd March 1924

Sandy, Mallory, Beetham and Hazard arrived at Darjeeling on Saturday 22 March where they were to spend four days packing and sorting their clothing and equipment, meeting the other expedition members who had gathered from all over. They were staying at the Mount Everest Hotel and it was here that Sandy met up with Odell, who had travelled from the Persian Gulf. 'Odell is here in great form & looking very fit’, he told Lilian. They immediately fell into reminiscing about the Spitsbergen expedition and Sandy confessed in his letter to Milling a week or so later that he was certain the other members had become heartily fed up of their banter and continual references to Milling and to Spitsbergen. It must have been a relief for Sandy to see Odell again and to be able to share with him all the impressions he had gained during the five-week journey from Britain. 

The day after they arrived in Darjeeling Bruce called a meeting to hand out duties for the trek. Hazard and Sandy were appointed as the two mess secretaries, and spent a good deal of time receiving instruction about how to fulfil their task, ‘most unpleasant & difficult as I don’t know a word of the language’, Sandy observed. It was an obvious job to give Sandy, since he was the youngest and least experienced member of the party. He was supported by two porters whose job was specifically to help him, despite the fact that they had no language in common. 

As Norton pointed out, the lack of Hindustani did present several problems when Sandy, in his role as mess secretary, was trying to demonstrate the more intricate workings of a cooker. “Mr Irvine, for instance, knows the Hindustani for jam already, and the resultant permutations and combinations are somewhat quaint and usually end in the summoning of Captain Bruce or Mr Shebbeare to get to the bottom of the matter. It is curious that some of the least qualified for interpreting are the most persistent in their efforts'. Sandy’s efforts at communication, however, were sometimes well rewarded and he did succeed in greatly speeding up the process of erecting the mess tent.