The correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller: Bowen, 15th December ¶ ¶ From a letter just received from my superintendent at the Gulf, I regret to have to inform you of the death of Mr. Sloman, leader of the Leichhardt search party, which took p...

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66.12.15b

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[John MacDonald] to Ferdinand von Mueller, 1866-12-15 [66.12.15b]. R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora, J.H. Voigt and Monika Wells (eds), Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, <https://vmcp.rbg.vic.gov.au/id//letters/1860-9/1866/66-12-15b-final.odt>, accessed June 13, 2026

Letter not found. For the text given here, see Age (Melbourne), 27 December 1866, p. 6. The item was widely reprinted, iin Australia and in England, including in the Daily news (London), 12 February 1867; the Liverpool mercury (UK), 13 February 1867; and the Newcastle courant (UK), 22 February 1867. The text is introduced with the following information: 'The Leichhardt expedition has again been unfortunate in the loss of its leader, and one is inclined to ask whether it is worth while to risk other valuable lives for the vague chance of recovering an explorer who has, in all probability, perished long since. The following telegram was recently received by Dr. Mueller'.

Bowen, 15th December

From a letter just received from my superintendent at the Gulf, I regret to have to inform you of the death of Mr. Sloman, leader of the Leichhardt search party, which took place on the 14th ult., at the Landsbrough

Landsborough.

River, from apoplexy.

T. D. M'Donald

Some of the newspaper reports give McDonald's initials as 'J. D.'. The telegram was almost certainly sent by the pioneer north Qld pastoralist, J. G. MacDonald, who had extensive land holdings at the Gulf of Carpentaria, with the initials given in the published reports being either a misreading or a miskeying by the telegraphists.