Mekong expedition of 1866–1868

[1] Its primary objective, besides scientific documentation, mapping, and the mission civilisatrice, was an assessment of the river's navigability in order to link the delta region and the port of Saigon with the riches of southern China and upper Siam (modern day Thailand).

It had rather become a liability and the Ministry of the Colonies pondered options of retreat, strictly based on scholars' reports in French Indochina who measured Saigon's commercial success against British Singapore and Shanghai.

Contrary to these sober official conclusions, the lucrative trade of these two ports and the economic links to China via the Yangtze motivated the French colonial community in Saigon to speed up surveying the Mekong.

"[10] The eventual conquest and colonisation of northern Vietnam and the establishment of a solely French-controlled trade route to China were considered necessary objectives as the vast Chinese empire with its enormous market was to become a potential source of a great commercial opportunity.

[11] Francis Garnier, the most ardent supporter of the expedition wrote "For a long time the gaze of the colony had been cast with curiosity and impatience towards the interior of Indo-China which was shrouded in great mystery.

"[12] Louis de Carné, the youngest expedition member also pointed to the unknowns: "Uncertainty begins within two degrees of Saigon, the very inexact charts of the great river; beyond that, only misleading geography instead of serving it.

He concluded that, "The future of rapid commercial relations on this vast river, the natural route from China to Saigon, of which I had happily dreamt the previous evening, appeared seriously compromised to me from this moment on."

On 18 June 1867 the men, whose health and condition had begun to seriously deteriorate and among whom malaria was widespread, left Siamese controlled territory and entered the Upper Mekong sector under Burmese rule.

In August de Lagrée left the by now seriously disease-ridden and feverish men behind at the village of Mong Yawng in order to seek diplomatic support from the influential Shan States who might help with the mission's progress.

"[34] After several months strenuous march in torrential rains, through thick jungle, over rugged and mountainous terrain on 3,000 m (9,800 ft) high narrow rocky paths, the men arrived at the Jinsha River in January 1868.

[35] Francis Garnier took command of the mission after de Lagrée's death and safely led the expedition to Shanghai and the Chinese coast via the Yangtze River and finally set sail for the South China Sea towards Saigon, where they arrived on 29 June 1868.

In 1872 de Carné wrote, [The Red River] "...promises to realize all the hopes and expectations which the Mekong destroyed..."[38] Francis Garnier received an award to be shared with David Livingstone at the 1869 Geographical Congress in Antwerp.

The institution's President Sir Roderick Murchison stated, "...France has the fullest right to be proud of these doings of her gallant naval officers..."[19][40] Garnier continued his travels in the service of French Indochina, trying to discover whether the Red River might be the desired route for trade with China.

[41] Colonial civil servant, explorer, and diplomat Auguste Pavie led four missions between 1879 and 1895, covering 676,000 km2 (261,000 sq mi) on foot, by elephant, or down the river on rafts, producing more accurate scientific data, such as the first atlas of the Mekong and at least six volumes of observations.

[50] Plates from Delaporte's drawings, in which certain features—ruins, wild animals and enormous trees—are exaggerated in order to match and satisfy 19th century European tastes for the romantic helped to keep the commission in the public's mind.