Above: Major Wheeler’s Photographic Survey Party: using photo-topographical surveying instruments, Wheeler with his two assistants methodically photographed and mapped the Everest region.

Right: On the 1921 Expedition only Major Morshead spoke a little Tibetan, so it was vital to have interpreters who could help expedition members negotiate with and understand the Tibetan people. Gyalzen Kazi (left) from Gangtok in Sikkim and Chheten Wangdi (right), a Tibetan who had fought with the Indian army in Egypt, were employed for this role.