'A splendid night; the moon shines with extraordinary brilliancy, silvering the surface of this lovely river, bordered by high mountains, looking like a grand and gloomy rampart. The chirp of the crickets alone breaks the stillness.' Henri Mouhot sitting at the foot of a - Henri Mouhot wrote in his tree and drawing; ; wild elephants diary on the 15th of July 1861 while (background); servants preparing food (foreground) (Drawn by A. Poccourt sitting at the base of a tree in from a sketch by H. Mouhot) dense jungle on the bank of the mighty Mekong, near the ancient Laotian capital of .1 In the footsteps of Henri Mouhot A French explorer in 19th Century Author's note: In 1997, I was so , and Laos moved when I visited the site where Henri Mouhot was buried Dawn Rooney that on returning to , I re-read his diaries. I was or nearly three years, from 1858 until his death in Laos in 1861, intrigued by this extraordinary Henri Mouhot explored the inner regions of Thailand (known human being, and felt compelled as Siam at that time), Cambodia and Laos. His legacy is a to reflect upon the little-known F detailed and unfinished diary of his keen observations of the places, man. people, animals, insects and shells of the region. Some of his notes are the earliest surviving records of previously uncharted areas. Alexandre Henri Mouhot was born on 15 May 1826, in the French village of Montbéliard, near the Swiss border. His father served in the administration of Louis Philippe and the Republic and his mother was a respected teacher who died when Henri was twenty years old. They had one other child, a son, Charles. Both parents made sacrifices to provide for the education of their two sons. Henri was a Greek scholar and studied philology with the intention of

SPAFA Journal Vol. 8 No. 1 5 teaching but he also developed landscapes, distinguished people of Wurttemberg, Countess of interests in the natural sciences and places of architectural inter- Montbéliard and great-niece of and foreign travel at an early age. est. At the outbreak of the the King of Prussia. Although When he was eighteen, he Crimean War in 1854, Mouhot the countess lived abroad, she went to St. Petersburg where he left Russia and returned to his remained loyal to her birthplace taught French and Greek at the home in Montbéliard. and returned to it often. This military academy, and later re- A historical link between historical link was the catalyst ceived a professor's diploma. Russia and Montbéliard may for many natives of Montbéliard Mouhot, who had a facility for explain why Mouhot decided to to go to Russia as private tutors languages, quickly learned Rus- go to Russia. The principality of or soldiers in the mid-19th cen- sian and Polish. In his leisure, Montbéliard was one of the sov- tury. he studied and mastered a new ereign states of the Germanic After a short stay with their photographic process invented Empire in the mid-18th century. father in Montbéliard, Henri and by Louis-Jacques-Mandé In 1776, the future Czar Paul I of his brother, Charles, travelled Daguerre. He took pictures of Russia married Sophia-Dorothea through Germany, Belgium and

Portrait of Henri Mouhot, c. 1860 A page from Mouhot's diaries with details of his observations (Drawn by M. H. Rousseau, from a Photograph) on the temple of Wat.

6 SPAFA Journal Vol. 8 No. 1 northern Italy, introducing the orient. Historians have put forth French Catholic missionaries Daguerre photographic process several factors. He may have serving at interior posts. They through their works of art. The been fulfilling a long cherished offered him food, shelter and so- two brothers moved to England dream to travel to Asia; or his lace, during which time he wrote in 1856 where they both mar- concentration on natural history poignantly of his respites with ried descendants of Mungo when he moved to Jersey may these missionaries: '... have you Park, the famous Scottish ex- have stimu- suffered? If plorer of Africa. Henri married lated his inter- you have, you Annette, who was probably the est in ac- will appreciate granddaughter of Mungo Park. quiring unique the feelings The two families settled on the specimens with which the island of Jersey in the English from the east; solitary wan- Channel where Henri refined his or, perhaps, a derer wel- study of the natural sciences, book, The comes the di- specialising in ornithology and Kingdom and vine cross, the conchology, and renewed his People of Siam: heart-stirring interest in foreign travel. with a narra- emblem of his Mouhot, an educated and tive of a mis- religion. It is cultured gentleman of the mid- sion to that to him a friend, 19th century, seemed an unlikely country in a consoler, a person to want to explore the 1855 by Sir father, a John Bowring, remote interior regions of South- A map to illustrate the Route and brother; at East Asia. Some two years after published in Notes of M. Henri Mouhot. 1859-61 sight of it the 1857, may (Published for the Journal of the moving to Jersey, however, Royal Geographical Society by J. soul expands, Mouhot set out alone for the have inspired Murray, London 1862). and the more east. He sought financial sup- Mouhot's jour- you have suf- port for his travels from both ney. Another possibility is that fered the better you will love it. France and England but was he was influenced by the increas- You kneel down, you pray, you unsuccessful. The prestigious ing French presence in South- forget your grief, and you feel Royal Geographical Society in East Asia in the mid-1850s and that God is with you. This is London, though, did give him the extended territorial rights of what I did.'2 its backing which undoubtedly the French to Cochin-China His beloved dog also afforded boosted his confidence and spir- (south Vietnam) and Cambodia. him comfort and companionship. its as he sailed east to a region On 27 April 1858 Henri 'My little 'Tine-Tine" says noth- so vaguely known at the time Mouhot and his King Charles ing, but creeps under my coun- that it was described on some dog, Tine-Tine, sailed from Lon- terpane and sleeps at his ease.. .I European maps of the period as don for Bangkok, a journey that much fear that my poor dog will 'Beyond India'. took four months. Soon after come to an untimely end, and be arriving he met Bishop Pallegoix It is unknown what influ- trampled under foot by some who put him in touch with other enced Mouhot to travel to the elephant, or devoured at a

SPAFA Journal Vol. 8 No. 1 7 mouthful by a tiger'.3 Tine-Tine in Chantaboun, a Chinese pep- fect, but who has not in this ironically outlived his master. per planter offered food and lodg- world? He now and then takes When the French Mekong ex- ing to Mouhot. The planter, a a drop too much'.5 pedition visited Luang Prabang, widower, suggested that his el- In the spring of 1859, six years after Mouhot's death, dest son, eighteen-year-old Mouhot left Chantaboun in a they found the fishing boat and dog in the care of followed the coast- a Laotian family. line along the Gulf Mouhot used of Siam to many modes of Kampot, on the travel - fishing west side. The boats plying the First King of Cam- coastline, el- bodia (Ang ephants, sure- Duang, reigned footed horses for 1848-1860) was in mountainous ar- residence and eas, oxen carts granted an audi- and, often, he ence to Mouhot, at dawn trudged through who presented the the jungle on foot. He slept in Phrai, become Mouhot's servant king with an English 'walking- a hut when he could, but his Phrai was 'a good young man, stick gun.' The king recipro- accommodation was usually a lively, hardworking, brave, and cated by giving Mouhot permis- hammock strung between two persevering...Born amidst the sion to travel to the capital of trees and a mosquito net. He mountains, and naturally Udong, an eight-day journey to even spent one night in a tree intelligent,...he fears neither ti- the north-east by oxen. There when he was exploring a moun- ger nor elephant. All this, added Mouhot met the Second King of tain range and lost his bearings to his amiable disposition, made Cambodia (Norodom, reigned while chasing a wild boar. Phrai...a real treasure to me'.4 1860-1904) who provided him The preservation of Mouhot's The other servant with him at with wagons and elephants to diaries, illustrations and speci- his death was Deng ('the Red'), continue north to the village of mens can be attributed to a for- who spoke some English. 'He is Pinhalu where he visited the tuitous trip he made to the very useful to me as interpreter, Stiens, a savage tribe occupying coastal town of Chantaboun especially when I wish to com- an area east of the Mekong. (Chantaburi) where he met one prehend persons who speak with During the following winter, of the two boys who became his a great piece of betel between Mouhot began the part of his travel attendants, and who their teeth. He is likewise my journey that he is most well- packed up his materials and cook, and shows his skill when known for in the west - his carried them from Luang we want to add an additional dish exploration of the ruins of the Prabang to Bangkok after to our ordinary fare.. .This atten- ancient Khmer capital of Angkor. Mouhot's death. Upon arriving dant of mine has one little de- From Phnom Penh, he followed

8 SPAFA Journal Vol. 8 No. 1 the river north and noted that gentiles as St Peter's at Rome.'7 of labour, that, at the first view, 'the river becomes wider and The above mentioned accounts one is filled with profound admi- wider, until at last it is four or of Angkor received little atten- ration, and cannot but ask what five miles in breadth; and then tion in the west, perhaps because has become of this powerful you enter the immense sheet of they were religious records and race, so civilised, so enlightened, water called Touli-Sap [Tonle were not circulated. So even the authors of these gigantic Sap], as large and full of motion though Henri Mouhot did not works? One of these temples - as a sea.. .The shore is low, and 'rediscover' Angkor, as has been a rival to that of Solomon, and thickly covered with trees, which the long-held idea in the west, erected by some ancient Michael are half submerged; and in the he was the first w e s t e r n e r to gen- Angelo - might take an distance is visible an extensive erate a widespread interest in honourable place beside our range of mountains whose high- the ancient Khmer capital of most beautiful buildings. It is est peaks seem lost in the clouds. Angkor. He did this through his grander than anything left to us The waves glitter in the broad diaries which contain detailed by Greece or Rome...'8 sunshine with a brilliancy which descriptions and illustrations of Although Mouhot visited the eye can scarcely support, the Khmer monuments. and described several monu- and, in many parts of the lake, nothing is visible all around but water. In the centre is planted a tall mast, indicating the bound- ary between the kingdoms of Siam and Cambodia'.6 Numerous western mission- aries either saw or knew of Angkor at least three hundred years before Mouhot. A text by Portuguese Diogo de Couto of the mid-16th century, for ex- ample, accurately described both Angkor Wat and Angkor Thorn. The centre west entrance, Angkor Wat (Drawn by M. Théroud from a Sketch by Mouhot) Later, Spanish missionaries wrote of the ruins at Angkor. Mouhot's first impressions ments at Angkor, it is his per- Père Chevruel, a French mis- of Nokhor, or Ongcor [Angkor] ceptive observations and draw- sionary, wrote at the beginning testify to his astuteness and ings of Angkor Wat that captured th of the 17 century: There is an perceptiveness. 'In the province the imagination of the west. ancient and very celebrated still bearing the name of They include the layout of temple situated at a distance of Ongcor,...there are,...ruins of Angkor Wat, architectural fea- eight days from the place where such grandeur, remains of struc- tures of the terrace, the cause- I live. This temple is called Onco, tures which must have been way, roofs, columns, porticos, and it is as famous among the raised at such an immense cost and galleries and details of the

SPAFA Journal Vol. 8 No. 1 9 bas-reliefs - scenes, locations, he returned to Bangkok for ad- dress, jewellery, military weap- ditional credentials and then con- ons, flora and fauna. 'What tinued to Laos. strikes the observer, ... [apart He reached Luang Prabang from] the grandeur, regularity, on 25 July 1861. The moun- and the beauty of tains which, these majestic above and below Mouhotia gloriosa, the beetle buildings, is the this town, en- discovered in Laos by Henri Mouhot immense size close the and prodigious Mekong, form number of the here a kind of to the Laotian tribes to the east blocks of stone circular valley or in early 1862, and in July or Au- of which they are amphitheatre, gust, to go down the Mekong to constructed.'9 nine miles in di- Cambodia. His plans, though, In the sum- ameter, and were aborted when on 19 Octo- mer of 1860, which, there can ber 1861 Mouhot was attacked Mouhot set out be no doubt, was by a fever. His notes leave little on another pio- anciently a lake. doubt that he himself thought neering journey, It was a charm- he was near death. 'If I must die From Bangkok to Kenne Thao. ing picture, re- here, where so many other wan- this time to A map to illustrate the Route and north-eastern Notes of M. Henri Mouhot. 1859- minding one of derers have left their bones, I 61 (Published for the Journal of the beautiful shall be ready when my hour Siam and Laos as the Royal Geographical Society 11 far north as by J. Murray, London 1862). lakes of Como comes'. Ten days later he made Luang Prabang. and Geneva. his last entry in his diary, '- Have 12 Before his departure, Siamese Were it not for the constant blaze pity on me, oh my God....!' in Bangkok told Mouhot that of a tropical sun, or if the mid- Henri Mouhot died on the they knew of only one other day heat were tempered by a evening of 10 November 1861. foreigner in the past twenty-five gentle breeze, the place would Phrai and Deng, Mouhot's 10 years, a French priest, who had be a little paradise.' Mouhot faithful servants, buried him on penetrated the heart of Laos and collected numerous specimens the bank of Nam Kan River, east returned safely. Mouhot, of insects. A splendid black of Luang Prabang, at the spot though, believed it was his des- insect that he discovered in Laos where he died. Then they car- tiny to make the trip. First he is considered one of the most ried his notes and specimens to went north to Ayutthaya, then to magnificent known specimens of Bangkok where they transferred Korat where he visited a Khmer a beetle. It was named Mouhotia the items to the French Consul temple, Prasat Phnom Wan, and gloriosa, in honour of Henri who forwarded them to on to Chaiyapoon, where his trip Mouhot. Mouhot's wife and brother. The family later gave them to the was aborted by an official who He planned to spend the re- Royal Geographical Society in refused to help him obtain oxen mainder of the year in the envi- London, where his hand-written or elephants for his journey. So rons of Luang Prabang, then go

10 SPAFA Journal Vol. 8 No. 1 notes are accessible in the ar- The Admiral in charge of the From Kenne Thao to Luang chives today. Prabang. A map to illustrate the expedition, de la Grandière, be- Six years after Mouhot's Route and Notes of M. Henri Mouhot. 1859-61 (Published for the lieved that France owed 'recog- death, the French Mekong Ex- Journal of the Royal Geographical nition and regret to the hardy ploration Commission set out to Society by J. Murray, London 1862). explorer to whom she had find a navigable route, from granted neither help nor encour- Saigon into China, that could be agement when they could have used for trade along the Mekong been of use'13. He, therefore, River. The expedition, led by requested that the Doudart de Commander Ernest-Marc-Louis Lagrée expedition try to put up de Gonzague Doudart de Lagrée, a monument in Mouhot's a 42-year-old naval officer, used memory near the site where he the map drawn by Mouhot for died. travelling overland in Laos. As On 29 April 1867, the com- his map was the only existing mission reached Luang Prabang. one at that time, credit is given Soon after arriving, Commander to Mouhot for having produced Doudart de Lagrée asked the the first map of the route from ruler of Laos for permission to Bangkok to Luang Prabang. construct a monument over

The Nam Kan River

SPAFA Journal Vol. 8 No. 1 11 Henri Mouhot's tomb, Laos, 1997. The plaque on the south face of the tomb

A detail of the plaque on the north face of the tomb The plaque on the west face of the tomb

Henri Mouhot's grave. The ruler surrounded the tomb was pleas- ronment in the territories be- readily agreed and offered to ant and sad at the same time. A tween Luang Prabang and provide the necessary materials. few trees and the rustling of their Tonkin. Dr. Neis, a medical Louis Delaporte, a member of tops accompanied the murmur doctor, led the mission and vis- the commission, made drawings of the waters of the Nam Kan ited Mouhot's tomb in 1883. He and supervised the building of which ran at their feet. On the decided to go to Mouhofs tomb the monument. It was placed on opposite side rose a wall of black- to see what had become of the the spot where Mouhot was ish rocks which formed the other monument which had been buried, high on the bank of the side of the torrent. There are no erected for our compatriot by the Nam Kan River. A simple plaque dwellings and no human traces de Lagrée Mission and to have inscribed 'H. Mouhot, May 1867' in the vicinity of the last resting it repaired if necessary. He was attached to the monument. place of this adventurous wrote : 'Early in the morning of The date of 1867 refers to the Frenchman.'14 the twenty-seventh I left on year the French commission The next French expedition horseback, accompanied by my erected the tombstone. to record seeing Mouhot's young interpreter and two lower A member of the expedition monument was on a mission to ranking mandarins. After hav- wrote: The landscape which find out about the political envi- ing crossed beautiful rice-fields

12 SPAFA Journal Vol. 8 No. 1 terraced on the sides of the vestiges of the monument built face, inscribed with Mouhot's mountain range which followed by Mr. Louis Delaporte. Built in name and the dates of his birth the Nam Kan, we arrived, after a humid forest, during the rainy and death, was put up by Pavie. an hour and a half of marching season, the tomb had never been Another one, on the south side, at a great and rich village called able to dry and the poor quality acknowledges both of the Ban Penom. There we comman- lime of the country had immedi- French delegations who erected deered the village chief and ately been washed away by the monuments. It is inscribed, three or four Laotians to serve diluvial rains common in this 'Doudart de Lagrée...fit elever as guides and to open up the season. Above the grave the ce tombeau...en 1867...Pavie... path for us. From these village terrain had caved in. The bricks, le reconstruisit...en 1887.' there are only vaguely indicated no longer retained, fell one next [Doudart de Lagrée raised this paths and these men preceded to the other. Perhaps also the tombstone in 1867; Pavie recon- us, to cut the branches which inhabitants of the surroundings structed it in 1887]. barred the route, with their sa- or oarsmen on the Nam Kan had The third plaque was put up bers... come to take away some of the nearly 130 years after Mouhot's After following the Nam Kan bricks to make their kitchen death, perhaps as the comple- for an hour since our departure ovens. Despite my search I tion of a longtime commitment. from Ban Penom, we arrived at could not find the sandstone Upon hearing of his death, the the foot of a rather high moun- plate which had the inscription. Society of Montbéliard - where tain, the Pou So-uan, close to big I had the soil carefully cleared Mouhot was born - wrote in a rapids which are called Keng from shrubs; I reassembled the letter to his brother 'His work Noun and we made a stopover bricks; then, remembering that was left unfinished, but it was in a small Laotian hut built close Mouhot was a devout Catholic, gloriously commenced, and his to the river. The owner told me I had two young trees cut to name will not perish!'16 In1990, he had helped Mouhot' smen make a cross on which I en- residents from his birthplace of bury their master and he pro- graved his name. Planted deep Montbéliard in France fulfilled posed to take me to his tomb. in the soil and supported by this commitment when they trav- We left our horses there and the bricks, it will, at least for a few elled to his grave in Laos to pay locals cleared the path for us more years, indicate the place their respects and to install a with sabers, cutting through li- where the first European who plaque on the west face of the anas and rattans. After twenty arrived in Luang Prabang, was tombstone. The inscription: 'La 15 minutes of counter-marching buried'. ville de Montbéliard...fière de and groping our way, the guide Epilogue : The monument son enfant [the village of pointed me to a thicket, saying; that stands today was put up by Montbéliard is proud of their "There is the tomb of the falang" August Pavie, the first French child]... 1990.' [foreigner]. They attacked the consul at Luang Prabang, in In August 1997,I visited the thicket with blows of their sa- 1887, to replace the first, less tomb of Henri Mouhot. I wanted bers and, indeed, I soon found durable, one. Three plaques on to see the last resting place of some scattered bricks on the the monument commemorate this extraordinary Frenchman, ground: these were the only Mouhot. The one on the north who went nearly two years with-

SPAFA Journal Vol. 8 No. 1 13 out encountering another Euro- Mouhot. The rest of it was hid- 3 Mouhot(1864) Oxford Univer- pean. He risked his life in pur- den by thick jungle. sity Press (reprint 1992), vol 2, suit of nature and of 'seeing so We began our ascent to the pp 94-5. much that is beautiful, grand, monument, and as we moved 4 and new' in the remote interior closer, it came into full view. Mouhot(1864) Oxford Univer- sity Press (reprint 1992), vol 1, p of Laos which no other foreigner Face to face, the rectangular, 155. had seen before him. I wanted grey granite monument was big- to see the environs of Luang ger than expected (dimensions: 5 Mouhot(1864) Oxford Univer- Prabang, the treacherous river height =10 ft; width = 6 ft; diam- sity Press (reprint 1992), vol 2, eter =3 ft). We walked around swirling through the thick jungle pp 78-9. that Mouhot poignantly de- it slowly, pushing bushes aside, scribed in his diaries. reflecting on the brief life of 6 Mouhot (1864) Oxford Univer- I went at the height of the Henri Mouhot (he died at age sity Press (reprint 1992), vol 2, p wet season. A torrential rain thirty-five), the contribution he 272. during the night had left the made, the legacy he left in the early morning air still and sticky. form of his diaries, which were 7 Clifford(1904)White Lotus The site seemed little changed published posthumously (in (reprint 1990), p 154. from Mouhot's descriptions in English in 1864), and the dedi- 8 his diary, although the access cation made by his wife and Mouhot (1864) Oxford Univer- has improved. A low layer of brother. The diaries were dedi- sity Press (reprint 1992), vol 1, mist floats above. We descended cated To the learned societies pp 278-9. a steep bank to the edge of the of England, who have favoured 9 Mouhot (1864) Oxford Univer- swelling Nam Kan River, where with their encouragement the sity Press (reprint 1992), vol 1, p muddy water splashed over the journey of M. Henri Mouhot to 299. foot path. Perspiration rolled the remote lands of Siam, Laos, 17 down our faces and soaked our and Cambodia.' 10 Mouhot (1864) Oxford Univer- clothes, prickly thorns pierced sity Press (reprint 1992), vol 2, p us as we plodded through thick All illustrations supplied by 137. jungle and gooey mud along the Dawn Rooney river's edge, which ran parallel 11 Mouhot (1864) Oxford Univer- to the river. A slight clearing in sity Press (reprint 1992), vol 2, p the jungle and a ray of sun, high- Notes 99. lighting the bank, took our eyes 1 Mouhot(1864) Oxford Univer- 12 to the steep slope of the bank sity Press (reprint 1992), vol 2, p Mouhot (1864) Oxford Univer- nearest to us. In the distance, 141. sity Press (reprint 1992), vol 2, p some twenty or thirty yards 160. beyond, we glimpsed a corner 2 Mouhot(1864) Oxford Univer- 13 of the monument that marked sity Press (reprint 1992), vol 1, p De Carné (1872) reprint White the last resting place of Henri 182. Lotus (1995), p 152.

14 SPAFA Journal Vol. 8 No. 1 14 Garnier (1868) reprint White De Carné, Louis, Travels in Indo- Mouhot, Henri, Travels in Siam, Lotus (1996), p 302. China and The Chinese Cambodia and Laos Empire, Longon, 1858-1860, London, John 15 Neis (1884) reprint and Chapman and Hall, 1872, Murray, 1864, 2 vols, translation 1997, pp 734. reprinted Bangkok, reprinted Bangkok, Cheney, White Lotus, White Lotus, 1986; 16 Mouhot (1864) White Lotus 1995. reprinted , (reprint 1986), Memoir of the Oxford University Press, Author, J.J. Belinfante, p 27. The French in Indo-China: With a 1989 and 1992. narrative of Garnier's 17 Mouhot(1864) Oxford Univer- explorations in Cochin- Neis, P. Travels in Upper Laos sity Press (reprint 1992), vol 1, p China, Annam and and Siam: with an 7. Tonquin, reprinted Account of the Chinese Bangkok, Cheney, White Haw Invasion and Puan Lotus, 1994. Resistance, Walter E.J. BIBLIOGRAPHY Tiops, trans and Intro, Gamier, Francis, Travels in reprinted Bangkok, Barron, Sandy, 'Back to the Cambodia and Part of White Lotus Press, 1997. Future,' The Nation, 19 Laos: The Mekong May 1996. Exploration Commission Osborne, Milton, River Road to Report (1866-1868) - China: The Search for Bowring, Sir John, The Kingdom Volume 1, Walter E.J. the Source of the and People of Siam, Tips, trans and Intro, Mekong, 1866-73, 2nd London, 1857; reprinted reprinted Bangkok, edition, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and White Lotus Press, 1996. Archipelago Press, 1996. Singapore, Oxford University Press, 1969 Hoskin, John, 'In An Explorer's Ponder, H.W., Cambodian Glory, and 1989. Footsteps,' Sawasdee, Condon, Thornton n.d. pp 43-45. Butterworth, 1936. Clifford, Hugh, Further India: Being the Story of , Trailing an Explorer Pym, Christopher, ed, Henri Exploration from the in Cambodia,' The Asian Mouhot's Diary, Kuala Earliest Times in Burma, Wall Street Journal, 4-5 Lumpur, Oxford Univer- Malaya, Siam, and Indo- August, n.d. sity Press, 1966. China, reprinted Bangkok, White Lotus, Montbéliard and Holy Russia, an Smithies, Michael, Intro, Descrip- 1992. unusual history,' Internet tions of Old Siam? Kuala site , 10 Dec 189. 1861),' Living, December 1997. 1983, pp 14-18.

SPAFA Journal Vol. 8 No. 1 15 Henri Mouhot (1826-1861): Siam, The temples of Angkor, the great Cambodia, and Laos,' in historical legacy of the Khmer Explorers of South-East civilization, stand majestically in situ Asia: Six Lives, Victor T. in north-west Cambodia. The King, ed & Intro, Kuala monuments, constructed between the Lumpur, Oxford Univer- ninth and fifteenth centuries, belong sity Press, 1995, pp 1-49. to the classic period of Khmer art and are unrivalled in architectural Thomson, John, The Straits of greatness. The temples are Malacca, Indo-China and astounding with their splendour and China or Ten Years' perfection, but beyond the emotions Travels, Adventures and they evoke lie complex microcosms Residence Abroad, of mythology. London, Sampson Low, Marston, Low, and The book is divided into three parts: Searle, 1875; reprinted the first contains background as The Straits of Mal- information on Khmer history, acca, Siam, and Indo- religious beliefs and legends depicted China: Travels and on bas-reliefs, with descriptions of Adventures of a Nine- decorative and architectural features teenth-century Photogra- including a section on restoration and pher, Singapore, Oxford conservation of the temples, while University Press, 1993. the second part is a monument-by- monument guide to the sites. The text is accompanied throughout by Dawn F. Rooney has a doctor- detailed maps and plans. The third SECOND EDITION ate in art history and specialises section contains practical information • 300 pages in Southeast Asia. Her most on where to stay, eat and get around • 30 maps recent publication is Angkor: An in and Phnom Penh. and temple diagrams Introduction to the Temples • 72 illustrations (Hong Kong, Odyssey/Pass- Author Dawn Rooney is a Doctor •Historical overview port, 1997). of Philosophy in art history and • Temple itinerary has written several books on • Easy-to-use maps south-east Asian art and culture. •Superb colour photography "...an excellent guide, well written, • Practical information with beautiful photographs..." The New York Times

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16 SPAFA Journal Vol. 8 No. 1