Tiger the Lion The standard reaction of those who have
met Tensing in London seems to be a mixture of admiration and solicitude. Everyone is impressed by his simple integrity, and everyone is afraid that it may be tarnished by the squalors which nowa- days attend on fame. All the British members of the expedition are bound by the usual contract restricting the extent to which, and the purposes for which, they can write articles, give interviews and so on. 1 believe it occurred to Colonel Hunt, shortly before the final assault, that it would be a good thing to get Tensing to sign this too; but he decided that Tensing had enough on his mind already without being bothered by long explanations of matters largely—at that time—outside his ken, and he abandoned the idea. When they came off the mountain Tensing was persuaded by an educated Sherpa from Darjeeling to enter into a contract appointing the Sherpa as his agent and thus creating a vested interest in his exploitation. No great harm seems to have come of this so far; but it is a state of affairs fraught with obvious dangers for Tensing.
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