Sherpan.

1847 B. H. Hodgson in Jrnl. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 16 ii. 1237 Cis-Himálayan Bhotias vel Tibetans, called..Serpa, &c.

1847 B. H. Hodgson in Jrnl. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 16 ii. 1238 The sub-Himálayan races..inhabit all the central and temperate parts of these mountains, the juxta nivean or nethermost tracts being left to the Rongbo vel Sérpá.

1874 B. H. Hodgson Ess. on Nepál & Tibet ii. ii. 30 Cis-Himálayan Bhotias vel Tibetans, called Rongbo,..Sérpa or Sharpa etc.

1922 G. H. L. Mallory in C. K. Howard-Bury Mount Everest xiv. 224 The Tibetan coolies..were notably less strong than our Sherpas.

1924 Glasgow Herald 16 Apr. 10/6 Two of them after a merry-making battered each other in a terrific manner, but the following morning..they were nursing each other with the greatest care and mutual pity. Such is a Sherpa porter.

1950 T. Longstaff This my Voy. iv. 67 He..had not yet shown us that Sherpas could be the mainstay of any Himalayan expedition.

1970 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 11 Nov. 38/4 Sen Tensing, the sherpa bearer, shuddered in fright.

1979 Daily Tel. 17 May 1/4 One of mountaineering's best known Sherpas, Ang Phu, was feared killed yesterday in a fall on Everest after helping a Yugoslav expedition put a second team on the summit.

1959 M. Pugh Chancer 137 What was the idea of trying that cliff? Did you fancy your chance as a sherpa?

1976 P. Cave High Flying Birds iii. 35 ‘O.K.,’ I said. ‘Lead the way, sherpa.’

1980 Times 23 June 1/2 The seven leaders inevitably based much of their comment on the draft communique drawn up for publication after the meeting by the seven government officials—known as the ‘sherpas’—who have been charged with preparing this summit.