The Austrian-American explorer Joseph Francis Rock (1884–1962) achieved fame as an expert on the botany of Hawaii as well as a plant collector in South-Western China, where he later established Naxi studies as a new field of research, which include the collection and translation of the pictographic manuscripts of this ethnic group.
In a first part Hartmut Walravens’ publication presents Rock’s letters to the botanist David Fairchild in Washington, written from an expedition to SW China from 1922 until 1924. They convey a vivid impression of his travels, which he undertook with the support of the National Geographic Society, and combine botanical and geographical details with the hardships of an explorer. Chinese characters have been added where possible. The second part reproduces Rock’s field diary of a journey in 1928 from the secluded Xifan Kingdom of Muli to the little-known Konkaling, the “holy mountain of the outlaws“ (Rock). In this diary, the names are only recorded according to the local Tibetan pronunciation, not according to the written spelling, as Rock only acquired a deeper command of Tibetan language later. The materials in this volume were all previously unpublished and have been edited from the manuscripts. With a map of the author’s travels and three indices.