A scarce and beautifully-illustrated travelogue of a French prince’s journey from Tonkin (Vietnam), along the Mekong through Laos and then through Assam to Burma. With a detailed Appendix on the author’s route.
Contents:
Hanoi to Mongtse
From Mongtse to Ssumao
Ssumao to Tali
Tali-Fou
From Tali to Tseou
Sojourn at Tsekou
Tsekou to Khamti
Khamti to India
About Henri D’Orleans (from Wikipedia):
Prince Henri of Orléans (16 October 1867 – 9 August 1901) was the son of Prince Robert, Duke of Chartres, and Princess Françoise of Orléans.
In 1889, at the instance of his father, who paid the expenses of the tour, he undertook, in company with Gabriel Bonvalot and Father Constant de Deken (1852-1896), a journey through Siberia to French Indochina. In the course of their travels they crossed the mountain range of Tibet and the fruits of their observations, submitted to the Geographical Society of Paris (and later incorporated in De Paris au Tonkin à travers le Tibet inconnu, published in 1892), brought them conjointly the gold medal of that society.
In 1892 the prince made a short journey of exploration in East Africa, and shortly afterwards visited Madagascar, proceeding thence to Tongkin in today Vietnam. In April 1892 he visited Luang Prabang in Laos. It brings him to writing a letter to “Politique Coloniale” in Januari 1893. From this point he set out for Assam, and was successful in discovering the source of the Irrawaddy River, a brilliant geographical achievement which secured the medal of the Geographical Society of Paris and the Cross of the Legion of Honour. In 1897 he revisited Abyssinia, and political differences arising from this trip led to a duel with Vittorio Emanuele, Count of Turin.
While on a trip to Assam in 1901, he died at Saigon on the 9th of August. Prince Henri was a somewhat violent Anglophobe, and his diatribes against Great Britain contrasted rather curiously with the cordial reception which his position as a traveller obtained for him in London, where he was given the gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society.
