New Year 1896.
Your letter, just received, dear Sir Joseph,
has been immensely cheering to me, as it recognises so fully the sacrifices, made
by me for maintaining the dignity and efficiency of my Department also at a period
of great difficulty, the depression having become augmented here by the excessive
drought, impairing largely the yields of wool and meat and wheat our staple-products
I wish you and Dr Dyer a happy new year in every respect, trusting that the clouds
of politic commotion will soon be dispersed, turbulant times of treatening wars always
impairing to some extent the resources of science-establishments.
Accept my best thanks for your own kind wishes towards me during the new annual span
of time, on which now we have entered. Will it be the last, destined for me by merciful
divine providence? As my independent researches reach back to the first half of the
century, I should have wished to live til the end of this centenary space of time,
but can hardly hope this - May I be spared a long lingering last illness, alone the
world as I am!
My views on antarctic further explorations I have - If I remember rightly - explained
to you already. Britain aught not to left unrepresented in the new movement. But in
these turbulant times of politic commotions even two of the oldest Steamship of the
R.N. can ill be spared. To me it seems advisable to limit the engagements to
two
summers and one winters, which would lessen the expenditure by half. Steamers will
in that time more accomplish then formerly sailing ships could. The Norwegians might
concentrate their efforts on traversing the icy plateaux of Vict. Land. with Macquarie
island for a depot. The Germans will take Kerguelens Land for such; so the British
might operate from Graham’s Land, where there is a good harbour and in summer not
much ice, and South Africa ought to give some help
Of your never to be forgotten father with his ample generous sentiment in his expression
I had since many years a large portrait along with one of yours on a wall of one of
my study-rooms. But I treasure this additional one highly indeed and I feel quite
young again, when I look at it.
The picture of RBr is remarkable, as it is so different from both the two lithograms
I have of his features, all three so little alike each other, as to render it strange
to emanate from the same mortal.
Let me congratulate you on your 4th sons agricultural triumph.
The Medaillon of your father I do not possess;
so I shall look on it as gem when you kindly send it.
are certainly a perplexing tribe. Till we know all species the genera can not be
fixed absolutely. I cannot yet fully understand the nomenclature of
and
. Kunth seems to have taken the most acceptable view about the two.
In all Melbourne dark ink is unobtainable, [as] you see from my letters.
Your Son Brian has just discovered Hydrargyrum
for the first time in W.A.
