Detailed topographical map showing the route of the unauthorised 1913 "Bailey-Morshead Expedition" of the Tsangpo Gorge - the deepest gorge in the world.



Captain Frederick Marshman Bailey (1882-1967) was an illustrious British intelligence officer in the India Army and a leading character in The Great Game, a fight for political and territorial control between the British and Russian Empires over Afghanistan and the surrounding Central Asian countries - with Bailey's particular focus being to maintain British control over the Himalayas.



Captain Henry Morshead (1882-1931) was an English surveyor, mountaineer and explorer. As well as the exploration of Tsangpo Gorge, Morshead is mostly recognised for his achievements during the 1921 and 1922 British Mount Everest Expeditions. In 1931, Morshead died in mysterious circumstances after being shot at point-blank range in Burma.



The 1913 Bailey-Morshead Expedition



As a member of the Survey of India, Captain Bailey was part of a team mapping the Brahmaputra River during the 1911-12 "Abor Expedition" whilst his colleague, Captain Morshead was working to accurately map the Dibang River. In 1913, Bailey invited Morshead to join him in surveying the Tsangpo Gorge, now known to be the deepest gorge in the world. The aim of this survey was to establish route and flow of the Tsangpo River through the Himalayas. It ultimately proved that the Dibang tributary of the Brahmaputra in fact had a route around the Himalayas rather than through it, and that the river did not connect to the Tsangpo River. The water course they had been studying later became known as the Tsangpo-Dihang-Brahmaputra River. The expedition lasted from May to November of 1913 and covered around 1,680 miles.


This was however an unauthorised expedition, and during their mission when they reached east of the mountain Namchabarwa, they were arrested and imprisoned for several days.



Printed colour. [IC2723]