The correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller: ¶ If you succeed — and, in these rainy years, I believe you will do so with ease — in penetrating from South Australia, through Central Australia, to the Western settlements, you will open a line of ...

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Physical location:

71.10.00

Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to Ernest Giles, 1871-10. 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/1870-9/1871/71-10-00-final.odt>, accessed June 13, 2026

Letter not found. The text given here is quoted as from 'a memorandum addressed to Mr Giles’ in 'A new field of exploration', Australasian, 14 October 1871, p. 496 (B71.10.01), and is dated to October on the basis of its date of publication. In the article in which it appeared, the author noted that the current cycle of wet years provided a unique opportunity to explore unknown country in central Australia. The author was pleased to announce that a lightly equipped expedition under Giles’s leadership was to travel from Mount Freeling to Perth 'in a beeline', adding that 'Baron von Mueller has most handsomely headed the subscription list with a donation of £50' and 'In bringing this subject under the notice of our readers, and in inviting their assistance to the project, we necessarily place great reliance on Baron von Mueller's emphatic testimony to the high qualifications of Mr. Ernest Giles'.

If you succeed — and, in these rainy years, I believe you will do so with ease — in penetrating from South Australia, through Central Australia, to the Western settlements, you will open a line of operations from which, right and left, new explorations can be carried out with still greater ease.