Across Thibet

The French explorer, author and legislator Gabriel Bonvalot (1853-1933) travelled widely in Central Asia in the 1880s. This two-volume English translation by C. B. Pitman of the 1889-90 French original was published in 1891. It describes Bonvalot's expedition across Europe and Asia to French Indochina. Accompanied by Prince Henri d'Orlans whose father, the Duc of Chartres, financed the expedition, Bonvalot left Paris in July 1889. In Volume 1, the expedition crosses first Russia and then Siberia, making its way south to Tibet. The obstacles encountered are considerable, with temperatures reaching 40 degrees below zero (Bonvalot describes how the fat that the expedition eats for butter is so hard that it may be 'used as a projectile') and altitude sickness affecting many of the party. The volume ends as the party enters Tibet, but without being certain exactly where they are.