COLQUHOUN, Archibald Ross. Across Chryse, Being a Narrative of a Journey of Exploration through the South China Border Lands from Canton to Mandalay. London, Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington, 1883.
Two volumes, 8vo. Partially unopened in the original pictorial cloth; pp. xxx, 420; xvi, 408, [4], [32, (advertisements, dated November, 1882); numerous wood-engravings, including folding plates, 3 colour maps (2 folding); spines slightly darkened, cloth a little marked, a few inner hinges strengthened, light spotting or browning internally, large map with repaired marginal tears, a very good copy with bookplate of Charles Algernon Moreing (1856-?), mining entrepreneur and President of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy.
First edition, and not the much more common US issue. Colquhoun's account of his travels in Indo-China derives from his work with a surveying mission in the area. According to the Preface, 'The main object of my journey was to ascertain the commercial and physical aspect of south-west China and of the Shan country' (p.vii). Dressed as a Chinaman, Colquhoun travelled from Canton to Yunnan and then, foiled in his expectation of crossing the border into the Shan States, north and west to Bhamo, from which he continued south through Burma. His report on the prospects for trade in the region led to an initiative from the various Chambers of Commerce.
Cordier Bibliotheca Indosinica p.192; Trager 0213.
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