Book excerpt: The soaring peaks of the greatest mountain range on Earth have long drawn visitors from around the globe, and one of the most famous of the 19th century was British adventurer and scholar Laurence Waddell, who spent most of a decade and a half exploring the nations that cling to the sides of the mighty mountains, learning the ways of their peoples, and sharing his experiences with Western readers. Here, in this 1899 classic of Himalayan travel, Waddell introduces us to the challenges of traveling in the region, takes us on visits to Nepalese and Tibetan tea gardens, journeys to monasteries, palaces, and temples, and much more. Beautiful photos and drawings complement Waddell's exciting and gripping tales-he offers some of the first "evidence" for the mysterious creatures known as "yeti," for instance-and make this an essential work for anyone drawn to the dangerous beauty of the Himalayas. British archaeologist and Orientalist LAURENCE AUSTINE WADDELL (1854-1938) also wrote The Buddhism of Tibet or Lamaism (1894) and Lhasa and Its Mysteries (1905).