Ferdinand von Mueller

1

Letter not found. Birch would probably have written in English; if so, the German text is presumably a translation prepared either by M or by August Petermann, who published it in 'Neueste Veränderungen der Karte von Südost-Australien', Petermann's geographische Mittheilungen, vol. 19, 1873, p. 415, introducing it as Birch's account of his discovery that he had given in a letter to M. The accompanying letter that M would have sent to Petermann has not been found. Birch’s letter is dated to January 1872 since it clearly prompted M’s letters to L. Bernays, January 1872 (in this edition as 72-01-00b) and A. Jochmus von Cotignola, 2 February 1872. It may however, have been written a little earlier than this, though not earlier than mid-November 1871; see M to C. Birch, 10 November 1871 (in this edition as 71-11-10a).

Ich habe eine geographische Entdeckung gemacht, die mit einer einzigen Ausnahme in Queensland ihres Gleichen sucht und deren Benennung ich Ihnen überlasse. Bowen Downs verlassend überschritt ich etwa 33 Engl. Meilen land Niederungen (downs) und betrat nach 10 Meilen N. 40° O. den Rand einer Wüste durch eine Unterbrechung in der Kette, welche die Wasser des Thomson und Belyando scheidet. Hier gab es zahlreiche Süsswasser- und Soda-Quellen. Nachdem ich 20 Meilen durch die Wüste gegangen, wendete ich mich an deren Ende ostwärts und stiess auf einen prächtigen See mit Buchten, Inseln, und Vorgebirgen, dessen grôsserer Theil jedoch in dieser Zeit trocken und mit Salzpflanzen bedeckt war. Von den Buchten schweift das Auge über eine immense vegetationslose Fläche in die von Bergen begrenzte Ferne. Da, wo das Bett des See's durch das Zurücktreten des Wassers entblösst war, trate scharfzackige vulkanische Felsen zu Tage, auf Tuff ruhend, unter dem sich wieder vulkanische Trümmer finden. Diese Felsen zeigen tiefe Spalten und unregelmässige Höhlungen, mit Salzwasser angefüllt. An anderen Stellen sind die runder Ränder kleiner Krater zu unterscheiden, ihr Inneres ist jedoch von Schlamm und Sand ausgefüllt. Ich bestimmte die Breite des See's von West nach Ost zu 15 Engl. Meilen, doch ist er weiter im Norden noch breiter, und seine Länge kann nicht weniger als 35 Engl. Meilen betragen. Nach 15 Meilen stiess ich auf einen Süsswasserbach und indem ich ihm 3 Meilen abwärts folgte erreichte ich eine grosse Wasserfläche von 5 Meilen Breite und gleicher Länge. Esf was ein malerisches Bild, das Blau des Ufergesträuches, das blitzende Wasser bedeckt mit wildem Geflügel, vorzüglich mit langen Reihen der geschopften Löffelgans und Pelikane, und der aufsteigende Rauch der Meilen weit entfernten Lager der Eingeborenen. Dieser See hat keinen Ausfluss und liegt auf der höchsten Stelle des niedrigen Landes, welches die östlichen und westlichen Gewässer trennt.

I have made a geographical discovery, which with a single exception in Queensland has not its equal and the naming of which I leave to you. Leaving Bowen Downs I passed over about 33 English miles of downs and after 10 miles N 40° E entered the edge of a desert through a break in the range that divides the waters of the Thomson and Belyando. Here there were numerous freshwater and soda springs. After going 20 miles through the desert, I turned eastwards at its end and struck a magnificent lake with bays, islands and promontories, the greater part of which, however, was dry at this time and covered with salt plants.

2

The published article gives the latitude and longitude of the lake as 22° S and 146° E. A copy of Birch's sketch map of the area, presumably sent by M, survives in the archives in Gotha, initialled and dated by Petermann 'AP 25 März'; this is reproduced in Voigt (1996), p. 156 (where, however, it is mis-identified as a map by Ernest Giles). On it, Birch named the lake he had discovered in honour of the Austrian general August Jochmus von Cotignola, in accordance with M's request that he name a geographical feature for Jochmus (see M to C. Birch, 10 November 1871 (in this edition as 71-11-10a)). M also sent a copy of Birch's map to Jochmus; see M to A. Jochmus von Cotignola, 2 February 1872.

From the bays, the eye wandered over an immense plain without vegetation, bounded in the distance by mountains. There where the receding of the water exposed the bed of the lake, sharp jagged volcanic rocks outcropped, resting on tuff, under which were again volcanic fragments. The rocks show deep fissures and irregular cavities filled up with salt water. At other places the round edges of small craters are to be discerned, but their interior is filled with mud and sand. I determined the width of the lake from west to east as 15 English miles, but it is even wider further north and its length cannot amount to less than 35 English miles. After 14 miles I came on a freshwater stream and as I followed it three miles downstream I reached a large sheet of water five miles wide and of similar length. It was a picturesque image, the blue of the bushes on the bank, the sparkling water covered with wild fowl, mainly with long rows of the crested spoonbills and pelicans, and the rising smoke of the camp of the Aborigines miles away. This lake has no outlet and lies on the highest place of the lowland that divides the eastern and western waters.

3

The article goes on to summarize Birch's reporting of the positions of other geographical features in the area that he was naming in honour of Germans, namely smaller lakes named after Mueller and Petermann and hills, marked as mountains on Birch's map, named after the explorers von Heuglin and Zeil. All of these names appear on a second, more carefully-drawn map of the area by Birch, also preserved in the archives in Gotha, that is initialled and dated by Petermann, 'AP 11 Juni 1872'; this is reproduced in Voigt (1996), p. 155. The names bestowed by Birch were all included in Petermann’s map 'Süd-ost-Australien’, digitized by the National Library of Australia at http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-232433873, that accompanied the article cited in n. 1. Modern maps, however, preserve only the name of Lake Mueller, while 'Lake Jochmus' has become Lake Galilee. Yet the name Jochmus has been retained as the name of the local government parish and also of a geological formation in the area (see http://dbforms.ga.gov.au/pls/www/geodx.strat_units.def?strno=8991&stratname=Jochmus%20Formation , accessed 12 August 2018).