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Sammlung Perthes Archiv,SPA ARCHPGM328,Forschungsbibliothek Gotha der Universität Erfurt. 69.07.17Preferred Citation:
Ferdinand von Mueller to August Petermann, 1869-07-17. 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/69-07-17>, accessed September 11, 2025
1
MS annotation by Petermann: 'Erh. 8. Sept. 1869. | A. 23. — + 3 Ex. an Sonder' [Received
8 September 1869. Answered 23 September 1869 + 3 copies to Sonder]. Petermann’s letter
not found. For a published version of this letter, see Voigt (1996), pp. 94-5.
The following newspaper clipping [no source given] is attached to the top of the letter:
'Soundings were taken last week of the Blue Lake, which occupies the centre of an
extinct volcano at Mount Gambier, and the greatest depth was found to be 672 ft. In
the shallowest part the plummet touched the bottom at 180 ft.' The newspaper from
which the clipping was taken has not been identified. Soundings at 24 different places
were made on 9 June 1869; see
Border watch
(Mt. Gambier), 12 June 1869, p. 2. The information was widely reported in June and
July, and the text of the clipping was published iin 'Colonial extracts', without updating the reference to 'last week',
in the
Queanbeyan age,
1 July 1869, p. 2; however, this regional NSW newspaper is unlikely to have been the
source of M's clipping.
Von dem ersten Minister Westaustraliens, the honorable Fr. Barlee, habe ich Nachricht
mit dieser Monatspost, dass die
kleine
Schar, welche Mr Forrest commandirt, hohen Muthes u voll von Hoffnung die letzten
Niederlassungen wohlbehalten verlassen habe, um zu der angedeuteten Sterbestätte Leichhardt´s
vorzudringen. Die Jahreszeit ist sehr günstig, indem ausserordentlich viel Regen fiel,
vielleicht zuviel, was die Reisenden zwischen Salzsümpfe einengen möchte.
Stets Ihr Sie Ehrender
Ferd von Mueller
Liessen sich nicht durch
Farbendruck
auf Ihren prächtigen Charten die Stadt Namen von Fluss Namen u diese von Bergnamen
unterscheiden? Es würde bei gedrängtem Druck den Überblick ausserordentlich erleichtern.
Ich werde es thun für meine grosse Pflanzencharte Australiens, für die ich so lange
(seit 22 Jahren) hier Materialien sammele. Gelegentlich möchten Sie mir vielleicht
die Freundlichkeit erweisen, einige Exempl der kleinen General Charte Australiens
für mich an Dr Sonder in Hamburg zu senden, der dafür Zahlung leisten wird.
F. v. M.
17 July 1869.
From the first Minister of Western Australia, the honourable F. Barlee, I have received
the news by this month's mail that the
small
group commanded by Mr Forrest
has left the last settlements in high spirits, well and full of hope to penetrate to the alleged location where Leichhardt died. The season is very favourable as there was an extraordinarily high rainfall, perhaps too much as this might restrict the travellers between salt marshes.
2
John Forrest.
Always respectfully your
Ferd. von Mueller.
Could not the names of townships be differentiated from the names of rivers and those
of mountains by
coloured print
on your magnificent maps? With crowded printing this would ease the reading a great
deal. I shall do this for my large plant map of Australia, for which I have been collecting
materials here for such a long time (22 years).
If the occasion offers, you might perhaps do me the favour of sending me through Dr
Sonder in Hamburg a few copies of the small general map of Australia;
he will make the payment for them.
3
No such map by M has been found.
4
M is probably referring to the map of the Australian continent, scale 1 : 10000000, included in the 1868 volume
of Petermann’s journal (Plate 21), under the heading ‘Australien. Übersicht des Standpunktes
der geographischen Kenntniss von Australien, 1868’. A copy of this has been digitized by the National Library of Australia,
http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-232095526.
F. v. M.