Accounts of Henri Mouhot's discovery of Angkor…
November 1861 CE
Accounts of Henri Mouhot's discovery of Angkor Wat are included in the diaries and specimens sent back to the west by his servant Phrai following the death of Mouhot on November 10, 1861.
From his base in Bangkok in 1858, Mouhot had made four journeys into the interior of Siam, Cambodia and Laos.
Over a period of three years before he died, he endured extreme hardships and fended off wild animals, to explore some previously uncharted jungle territory.
On his first expedition, he visited Ayutthaya, the former capital of Siam (already charted territory), and gathered an extensive collection of insects, as well as terrestrial and river shells, and sent them on to England.
In January 1860, at the end of his second and longest journey, he reached Angkor (already charted territory)—an area spread over more than four hundred square kilometers, consisting of many sites of ancient terraces, pools, moated cities, palaces and temples, the most famous of which is Angkor Wat.
He had recorded this visit in his travel journals, which included three weeks of detailed observations.
These journals and illustrations will later be incorporated into Voyage dans les royaumes de Siam, de Cambodge, de Laos, which will be published posthumously.