Sale 78 China and other Asian Countries

China, Taiwan French Military Mail : 1885 (27 May) unfranked envelope endorsed "Corps expéditionnaire du Tonkin" to Lyon (4.7), showing "Marine et Colonies/Service à la Mer" circular cachet in blue and matching "Corps Exp./Tonkin. Ligne N. 5" c.d.s. (23.5), the ship "Tanais" of the Naval Squadron of Admiral Courbet, which left Yokohama on 7 May 1885, stopped at Keelung on 22 May, Makung on 23 May and then Hong Kong on 24 May, beside the ships of Courbet's Squadron included an Expeditionary Corps comprised of a battalion of the Naval Infantry, a battalion of the Foreign Legion, and the 3rd Battalion of the Light Infantry of Africa, the notation "Corps expéditionnaire du Tonkin" refers to these troops, very fine military usage during the short-lived Formosa Campaign.
Estimate HK$ 10,000 - 12,000

References: Raymond Salles, La Post Maritime Française, Tome V. Les Paquebots de l'Extrême Orient (Limassol, 1993), pp. 138-139, No. 20.