Elias , Ney , 1844-1897 , diplomat and explorer

Born, 1844; educated in London, Paris, and Dresden; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1865; studied geography and surveying under the RGS's instructors; employed by merchant house, Barnet and Co., Shanghai, 1866; three expeditions to determine the new course of the Huang He or Yellow River, 1867, 1868, and 1869; crossed the Gobi Desert, 1872; founder's medal of the Royal Geographical Society, 1873; Member of the Council of the RGS; engaged by the Government of India, 1874; second in command of the overland mission from Burma to China; attached to Robert Shaw's abortive mission to Kashgar, 1877; joint commissioner of Ladakh; expedition over the Karakoram, 1879; visits to Kashgar, 1880 and 1885; special duty in connection with the Sikkim War, 1888-1889; first-class political agent, took command of a mission to report on the political geography and condition of the Shan States on the Burma-Siam frontier, 1889; agent to the Governor-General at Mashhad and Consul-General for Khorasan and Seitan, 1891; retired, 1896; died, 1897.