Jules-Léon Dutreuil de Rhins (January 2, 1846 - June 5, 1894) was a French explorer and geographer. Born in Lyon, he attended the École navale before entering the merchant marine. He joined the French Marines during the French intervention in Mexico (1861 - 1867) and returned to the merchant marine afterward. In 1874, the King of Annam requested French officers to command gunboats France ceded to his kingdom. Dutreuil de Rhins responded to this call and spent 1876 and 1877 as the captain of le Scorpion. He turned this experience into several books and maps, including several maps of eastern Indochina published between 1879 and 1886. He accompanied Savorgnan de Brazza on his 1883 expedition to West Africa. Dutreuil de Rhins worked at the French dépot des cartes et plans de la Marine from 1884 until 1890 when he decided to organize an expedition to Central Asia. Dutreuil de Rhins and fellow explorer Fernand Grenard left for Asia in 1891 and centered in eastern Turkestan (modern-day Xinjiang). The duo attempted to enter Lhasa in 1893 but were denied entry. Dutreuil de Rhins died near Tom-Boumdo in the modern-day Qinghai Province after a dispute with some indigenous Tibetans. Grenard managed to escape and survived. After returning to Europe, Grenard published a narrative of the expedition, Mission scientifique dan la Haute-Asie.



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