This illustration by Louis Delaporte is one of dozens he produced during his two-year venture (1866-68) with the Mekong Exploration Commission sponsored by the French Ministry of the Navy; the intention of which was to lay the groundwork for the expansion of French colonies in Indochina. Traveling the Mekong by boat; the small French delegation voyaged from Saigon to Phnom Penh to Luang Prabang; then farther north into the uncharted waters of Upper Laos and China's Yunnan province; before returning to Hanoi in 1868 by foot; accompanied by porters and elephants.