Ferdinand von Mueller

Melbourne,

15 Sept 1885.

Capt. J. W. Traill,

Private Secretary to His Excellency Sir H. Loch, K.C.B,

Governor of Victoria &c

Sir,

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 14th instant

1

J. Traill to M, 14 September 1885 (in this edition as 85-09-14a).

with copies of despatches from the Right Honorable the Secretary of State for the Colonies and from the Undersecretary of the foreign office; and beg of you, to express my best thanks to the Governor for his Excellency's kindness in forwarding these documents as well as the precious jewel which his Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Russia most graciously bestowed on me,

2

The Tsar gave M a diamond ring; see M to E. von Regel, 21 September 1885.

and which I shall regard as a token of the Czar's appreciation of scientific progress in these portions of her Majesty's Colonial Empire. May I beg of you, to ask the Governor, kindly to convey to the Right Honorables the Secretaries of State and to his Excellency the Russian Ambassador my best thanks for the official transmission of this ever treasurable mark of grace and favor from one of the highest thrones of the world.

3

MS annotation: 'Copy Forwarded in despatch N. 60 of 1885'.

P.S.

I shall have the honor of answering the letter, which I received from his Excellency Count Detrovsky,

4

Neither Detrovsky's letter nor M's reply has been found.

by next mail.