M henri mouhot biography

Henri Mouhot sitting at the foot of a tree and drawing; Laos; wild elephants (background); servants preparing food (foreground) (Drawn by A. Poccourt from a sketch by H. Mouhot)

'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 cricket alone breaks the stillness.'

- Henri Mouhot wrote in his diary on the 15th of July 1861 while sitting at the base of a tree in dense jungle on the bank of the mighty Mekong, near the ancient Laotian capital of Luang Prabang.
(End Note 1)