Ferdinand von Mueller

1

Letter not found. The text given here is from 'The Leichhardt fund', Brisbane courier , 3 June, p. 6 (B65.06.03). The letter is introduced by 'the following interesting letter has been forwarded to us by Dr Mueller, the Government Botanist of Victoria'. M must have written in late May in order for his letter to have reached Brisbane in time to be printed on 3 June. The letter was reprinted in the Australasian, 24 June 1865, p. 3 (B65.06.12).

Sir,—

I feel impelled in the interest of Leichhardt's cause to offer some remarks in response to the observations contained in your valuable journal of the 17th instant. The ladies so nobly engaged in arranging for a renewed search after the long-missing traveller and his companions have unweariedly devoted their attention to this lofty object. The subscriptions raised by their exertions, and the contributions likely to be obtained within the next week through concerts, lectures, and other arrangements, will probably not fall short of £1000, of which amount but a trifling sum has as yet been furnished from beyond Victoria. It is an enigma to all of us why the wealthy occupants of the very country which poor Leichhardt discovered, named, and mapped, should not have spontaneously aided and encouraged this enterprise, and have alleviated the toils of the ladies by remitting their contributions to the Melbourne committee. What has been received from Queensland we owe as yet only through the kind co-operation of M. Thozet and Mr. Sutherland.

2

Identified as James Sutherland in Rockhampton bulletin and Central Queensland advertiser, 8 April 1865, p. 2.

In Europe, and indeed throughout the intellectual world, it would, moreover, hardly be credited that not even the wealthy Australian residents whose names Leichhardt bestowed as eternal monuments on rivers and mountain systems, and who are still living in opulence among us, have found it necessary to offer a trifling tribute on their own accord, of gratitude and humanity on this occasion. On the contrary, most of our colonists seem ready to draw the pall over the lost traveller, without caring to ascertain whether life is extinct. This apathetic procrastination of aiding us, the idle talking without action, this want of intelligent penetration of the cause before us, which to any reflecting and feeling mind—and so it was to yours—ought to be as clear as the sun, can neither promote the steps of the fair apostles of Leichhardt's cause, nor do any good to the abandoned explorers. It would appear, indeed, as if young Australia was waiting to he taught by a lesson from Europe its duties as a country. It would be unjust were I to censure our inhabitants generally for their shortcomings on this occasion, for most noble and touching examples of sympathy have encouraged the ladies; those examples have been however, exceptional, and came from those on whom Leichhardt's cause had the least claim.

Allow me next, Mr. Editor, to remove the impression which the remarks of your writer on the 17th must have left on the public mind,—that it would be hopeless to search for Leichhardt's traces, and that mere accident would reveal them.

3

See 'Commentaries on things in general' by 'Sempronius', Brisbane courier , 17 May, 1865, p. 8. 'Sempronius' responded in a letter to the Editor, Brisbane courier , 17 June 1865, p. 7, conceding that if M was right, and 'Leichhardt's various camps can be traced by the aid of the blacks' the 'paramount difficulty of the intended expedition vanishes'.

This idea is profoundly erroneous. The aborigines are communicative enough if carefully questioned, and would be ready to guide any party, persevering in its task to the L trees of Leichhardt. If, a dozen years after Leichhardt's first glorious journey, another expedition was able to find bones of a solitary slaughtered ox and one of his camps, how should, then, the remains of about 80 large animals and the remnants of the outfit of a whole well-equipped party be undiscernible after 17 or 18 years? If Leichhardt's party was annihilated under the hands of the natives, the iron implements and many other articles will in masses be still in the possession of the assailing tribe, and the bones of their animals will be scattered in the vicinity. If the party perished for want of water or food, the bleaching remains of men and animals will indicate the spot, and the natives would lead the search party to the locality. A drawing of a tree marked with an L., shown to the natives, will render their comprehending what is searched for, and patient investigation will clear up beyond all doubt, in discovering the relics—the fate of our friends. Assuredly to the keen eye of the aborigines, the grave of the lamented Burke

4

Robert O'Hara Burke.

would not have remained concealed for any lengthened period, even without the demonstration of King,

5

John King (1832-1872).

as your correspondent is anxious to persuade us.

Mr. Howitt informed me within the last few days that while at Cooper's Creek, where he so creditably maintained the depot, the native inhabitants gave him every possible information of Sturt's movements in their territory nearly twenty years ago, and decidedly affirmed that no party corresponding to that of Leichhardt's had passed through the lower regions of Cooper's Creek. I am grateful otherwise for the noble sentiments evinced by your correspondent, and feel sure had he reflected on the grave responsibility of discouraging the search, ho would hove shrunk from doing so.

Leichhardt, with his heavy caravan, would endeavor to strike through the most fertile country. His followers, in re-discovering the fine tracts of lands, through which the missing traveller probably passed, will add to our knowledge of this great country, will increase settlement with exploration, and with settlement commerce, of which we all will benefit. The ladies have opened negociations with Mr. M'Intyre, who is designed to lead their expedition shortly—as that of search—and who will carry public confidence with him. If a true appreciation of our duty in this glorious cause would only prompt everyone to bear his share of support, the party could take the field within the next month. Of this much, let me finally assure you, Mr. Editor, that the high-minded ladies of Victoria, associated for revealing Leichhardt's fate, will never abandon his cause; if Victoria alone cannot carry it out, European aid will be invoked. Rest certain, Sir, that should the search require to be extended even over many years, it will never be discontinued, until it has yielded results indisputably convincing. The power of the ladies for great cosmopolitan works of philanthropy comes luckily to the test in Victoria; and, even if they should remain unaided, they will carry through their enterprise, and with it probably achieve the great triumph of disclosing the interior of the great western portion of this continent—the great geographic problems for which Leichhardt sacrificed his life on the altar of science.