EVEREST

everest, mount, the highest mountain in the world. it is a peak of the himalayas situated in nepal almost precisely on the intersection of the meridian 87 e. long. with the parallel 28 n. lat. its elevation as at present determined by trigonometrical observation is 29,002 ft., but it is possible that further investigation into the value of refraction at such altitudes will result in placing the summit even higher. it has been confused with a peak to the west of it called gaurisankar (by schlagintweit), which is more than 5000 ft. lower; but the observations of captain wood from peaks near khatmandu, in nepal, and those of the same officer, and of major ryder, from the route between lhasa and the sources of the brahmaputra in 1904, have definitely fixed the relative position of the two mountain masses, and conclusively proved that there is no higher peak than everest in the himalayan system. the peak possesses no distinctive native name and has been called everest after sir george everest (q.v.), who completed the trigonometrical survey of the himalayas in 1841 and first fixed its position and altitude. (t. h. h.*)