3-008-764 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The late Henri Mouhot, naturalist, 1862. 'M. Mouhot was a Frenchman by birth, but, having married into a branch of the family of the late Mungo Park, the African traveller, had become an Englishman in habits, and always gave the scientific societies of this country the benefit of his discoveries. In 1858 he left England for Siam, and, after exploring that country and the adjoining territory of Camboja, was at the time of his death en route for the frontiers of the south-western provinces of China. When far in the interior he was attacked by the fever of the country, and expired after twenty-two days' illness. [His] ornithological, entomological, and other natural-history specimens...have formed the subject of several communications...to the Zoological Society of London. At a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society...Sir R. Murchison took the opportunity to pay a tribute to the merits of this gentleman as a zoological collector and geographical explorer. His loss will be severely felt by men of science, and it will, perhaps, be long before another adventurer is found hardy enough to follow in his footsteps through the wild and fever-stricken countries, for the exploration of which he sacrificed his home, his health, and eventually his life'. From "Illustrated London News", 1862.