Hallett, a British engineer, travelled by elephant through northern Siam and the Shan and Lao states in the 1880s to survey a railway route linking Burma and China. He describes the jungles, rivers and villages, the princes and missionaries he met, the customs and trade of the region, and the discomfort of riding a plunging elephant.
A detailed Victorian travel narrative of mainland Southeast Asia, coloured by imperial commercial ambitions. Download the free EPUB.