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Cambodia / France: The Mekong Exploration Commission (Commission D'Exploration Du Mekong), 1866-68.

Cambodia / France: The Mekong Exploration Commission (Commission D'Exploration Du Mekong), 1866-68.

The Mekong Exploration Commission (1866-68) was sponsored by the French Ministry of the Navy, with the intention laying the groundwork for the expansion of French colonies in Indochina. Traveling the Mekong by boat, the small French delegation voyaged from Saigon to Phnom Penh to Luang Prabang, then farther north into the uncharted waters of Upper Laos and China's Yunnan province, before returning to Hanoi in 1868 by foot, accompanied by porters and elephants.