Chasses au tigre et a l'éléphant: un hiver au Cambodge / A Winter in Cambodia

Notwithstanding some blatantly racist asides -- even considering the many prejudices then in vogue --, and the usual braggadocio of a compulsive big-game hunter, this document is an important description of Cambodia at the turn of the century, more on the geopolitical level than on the ethnographic one.

The traveler was then undertaking an explorative mission for the French authorities, with the logistical support of King Norodom (who liked to refer to 'prahok' (fermented fish paste) as the 'Cambodian roquefort', according to the author).

Among his findings, we shall stress:

• some useful notations on sedimentation and erosion processes in the Mekong Basin at this time.
• a detailed description of iron ore mining and iron production in the Phnom Dek area (Kompong Thom Province). Not only the author stresses the high quality of Cambodian iron -- with a minutious evaluation according to European standards -- but he also describes how the Koy ethnic minority was keeping alive centuries-old techniques of extraction, production and metalwork used in Angkorian times.
• a detailed analyzis of the country's natural resources, including precious timberwood, cotton, fruit and rice.
• the author's personal discovery of Angkor (Part V of the book), a moment when he lowers his usual guard of ironical (and often condescending) criticisism of the 'decadent laziness of the Khmer people' and marks a pause, in awe before 'this marvelous monument to human ingenuity', 'the utter splendor' of the architecture and sculpture, 'the impeccable technique' shown by Khmer masons and sculptors.
• his collection of local legends regarding the foundation of Angkor, one of which proclaiming that the temple complex was built at a time when 'the sea reached a position some 70 milles north of Angkor'. Dating the foundation of Angkor around the 12th century CE, and predicting that 'the whole temple will disappear soon, being built with the crumbliest type of sandstone', he seems to briefly overcome his blatant misogyny to note: 'According to the Cambodian legend, the great pagoda has survived the assaults of times because it has been erected by women, which simply manifests the intrinsic gallantry of the Khmer'.