Description:

Mountain Climbing
n.p., ca. September 7, 1832
Early Mountain Climbing in Mauritius! British Royal Artillery Officer's Remarkable 1832 Account of First Ascent, Mountaineering Techniques, Enslaved & Convict Sherpas, Natural Beauty
AMS
A 16pp autograph manuscript signed describing the first European mountain climbing ascent of Pieter Both Mountain, the second-highest peak in Mauritius, undertaken in early September 1832 by four British military officers assisted by 15-25 enslaved Blacks and "sepoy convict" sherpas. The manuscript was written by Lieutenant A.J. Taylor, of the Royal Artillery, who initialed the manuscript as "A.J.T." on page 11. N.d. but ca. September 7, 1832. N.p. Featuring two full-page original ink illustrations by Taylor depicting the ascent, as well as six additional smaller-scale illustrations in ink and pencil showing the silhouette of the mountain. Neatly inscribed on watermarked laid paper and bound along the left edge. With scattered contemporaneous edits and cross-outs; two margin notes on page one; and one footnote on page four. Expected wear including toning, edge darkening, negligible chipped edges, and minor closed tears. Else near fine and very legible. The manuscript is housed in an archival wrapper inscribed "M.S.S. Account of the Pater Botta Mountain in the Mauritius on the 7th Sept 1832 by A.J. Taylor Esq. Royal Artillery." The manuscript measures 8.125" x 12.75."

We believe that this manuscript represents either Lieutenant Taylor's original letter, or a contemporaneous manuscript copy of the original letter, that was submitted by one Mr. Barrow to the Royal Geographical Society for consideration as: Lieutenant Taylor, "Account of the Ascent of the Peter Botte Mountain, Mauritius, on the 7th September, 1832," published in "The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London" (Vol. III, 1833), p. 99-104. (A complete printed copy of this article is provided for reference.) A side-by-side comparison of Taylor's manuscript here and the "Royal Geographical Society" journal article reveals mostly small changes of word choice and punctuation, and in general very faithfully follows Taylor's manuscript version. The majority of these changes are unremarkable, but several pertain to racial epithets; on pages 7 and 8 of Taylor's manuscript, three instances of use his of the word "n-gg-r" have been changed to "negro" in the article.

This is indeed a wonderfully detailed and lengthy early account of mountaineering in the Southern Hemisphere. Pieter Both Mountain (also referred to as Peter Botte or Peter Botta Mountain, named after the first Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies) is located in the Moka Range in the northern end of the island of Mauritius, located about 1,000 miles east of Madagascar, and further off the coast of eastern Africa. At about 2,690 feet high, Pieter Both Mountain is one of the island's highest peaks and also features a strange rock formation at its summit: a precipitously positioned boulder, measuring about 9 meters in diameter, resting at the top of a long pinnacle which Taylor describes as "knife like."

First Ascent

Lieutenant Taylor and his fellow officers (Captain Lloyd, Lieutenant Phillpot, and Lieutenant Keppell) made the first European mountain climbing ascent of Pieter Both Mountain on September 7-8, 1832. The account describes how the party left Port Louis to venture into the hinterlands near the mountain. The actual ascent and descent took place over a 24-hour period. Before climbing down, the party camped on a cold and barren mountainside ledge that night, the subject of the second of Lieutenant Taylor's captivating original ink illustrations.

Early Mountaineering Techniques

The account includes many details about early mountaineering techniques, which is quite remarkable considering that alpinism had only emerged as a leisure activity in eighteenth-century Europe, and would not yet become a popular adventure sport in Great Britain until the 1850s, 30 years later. Lieutenant Taylor describes in great technical detail how the mountain climbing party employed spiked ladders, ropes, rings, gun-propelled rope-attached arrows, crowbars, boat hooks, and even their bare feet to ascend the mountain. To better explain how the climbers ascended, Lieutenant Taylor's first full-page original ink illustration shows the series of ropes and ladders that were positioned on the slope up towards the summit. (No doubt the basis for the lithograph "Ascent of Peter-Botte Mountain" published within the "Royal Geographical Society" article.)

- The advance crew of sherpas "carried with them a sort of tent, and Ropes, crow bars, a portable ladder, provisions, and every thing we could possibly want for three or four days…" (manuscript, p. 2)

Enslaved & Convict Sherpas

Lieutenant Taylor's account is from his perspective, and that of his fellow White climbers, but he actually talks quite a bit about the role that the sherpas - all individuals of color - played in facilitating the climb. These sherpas were either enslaved Blacks from Mauritius plantations or Indian ex-British Army convicts.

- "We had previously sent out two of his overseers with about 25 negroes and sepoy convicts to make all the necessary preparations…" (manuscript, p. 2)

- "Our van was composed of about 15 or 20 sepoys in every variety of costume - together with a few negroes carrying our food, dry clothes, &c… (manuscript, p. 3)

- "These negroes use their feet exactly like monkeys grasping with them every projection almost as firmly as with their hands…" (manuscript, p. 5)

- "Three lengths of the ladder were put together on the ledge, a large line was attached to the one which was over the head, and carefully drawn over, and finally, a two inch rope, to the extremity of which we lashed the top of our ladder then lowered it gently over the precipice till it hung perpendicularly, and was steadied by two n-gg-rs on the Ridge below…" (manuscript, p. 6-7)

Natural Beauty

The narrative includes many descriptions of the sublime beauty of the landscape, betraying Lieutenant Taylor's literary bent.

- "One extremity of the neck [of the mountain] was equally precipitous, and the other was bounded by what to me was the most magnificent sight I ever beheld. A narrow, knife like edge of rock broken here and there by precipitous faces ran up in a conical form to about 300 or 350 feet above us - and on the very pinnacle old 'Peter Botte' frowned in all his glory…" (manuscript, p. 4)

- "It was a glorious sight to look down from that giddy Pinnacle over the whole Island laying so calm and beautiful in the moonlight expect where the broad black shadows of the other mountains intercepted the light; here and there we could see a light twinkling in the Plains, or the fire of some sugar manufactory… many of the tropical birds, frightened at our vagaries, came glancing by in the light and then swooped away screeching into the gloom below - for the gorge on our left was dark as Erebus…" (manuscript, p. 8-9)

The mountain climbing tale is of further interest because it paints a portrait of a very interesting time in the history of Mauritius. The island had been controlled by first Dutch and then French interests before becoming "British Mauritius" during the Napoleonic Wars. British ships and marines had been dispatched to the island during the spring of 1832 because there had been civil unrest among the island's predominantly French-speaking population. Just three years later, in 1835, slavery would be abolished on Mauritius.

The author of this narrative, Lieutenant A.J. Taylor, was probably a career military officer. One "Captain A.J. Taylor" is listed several times in Captain Francis Duncan, "History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, Vols. I & II" (London: John Murray, Ablemarle Street, 1872-73) between the years 1846-1852.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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