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at 18° 47' N. and about 99° 20' E.; he collected from the natives a considerable amount of information concerning the neighbouring States of Muong Nam, Muong Phe and Luang Prabang; and when he left Chieng Mai it was by a new route, the high road to Bangkok. This runs south as far as Pang Nan Dit, then south-west to the Me-ping, which river McLeod crossed at Ban Nat. Up to this point the way had been through flat and grassy plains, but the Me-ping once crossed, more hilly country was entered, though only one really big hill had to be climbed. There were no cart-tracks here, but the diffi- culties in the way of making one were not great, and McLeod cherished the hope that the trade with Yun-nan might be tapped by this route and the Lakon road. Nothing, however, resulted from this suggestion. Mc- Leod made his way back to Maulmian viâ Kokarit and Mikalon.

I have not dealt in detail with this traveller's descrip- tion of the Shan States through which he was the first to pass, as an account will be found in the chapters re- cording the journey of the French mission. It should be remembered, however, that McLeod was the first white man to visit and map these regions.

The summary which has now been given of early ex- plorations in the Indo-Chinese Hinterland will enable the reader to understand when and to what extent the de Lagrée-Garnier expedition was breaking ground en- tirely new, and when and to what extent they were stepping in the footprints of others. Even when the Frenchmen were not the first in the field, however, the almost unlimited time at their disposal and their superior