Ferdinand von Mueller

1

MS annotation by M: 'Answ 9/11/80'. Letter not found.

Eden, Twofold Bay.

2

NSW.

November 5. 1880.

Baron Ferd. Von Mueller.

Melbourne.

Dear Baron Mueller.

Your courteous acceptance

3

Letter not found.

of the copy of my sketch of Bega

4

NSW.

emboldens me to address two others to you, in the hope that you may consider them worthy of a place by the side of the first. The sketch of Lake Curalo

5

NSW.

I am loath to part with, as it is the original, unless I could obtain a photographic copy of it. They are very far from being perfect, but as they are my first efforts, & daily labour on a farm is not conducive to delicacy & steadiness of touch, I am in hopes to improve. I began this sort of thing, & to publish my little knowledge of forest Vegetation & natural history in the hope that by so doing I might obtain some little addition to the uncertain income I derive from farming. But my life is so isolated, & this district is so remote from the centres of culture that I have to consider myself fortunate if the city papers allow my articles to appear, gratis.

My object in telling you this is not to transgress beyond the bounds of intercourse permissive to men of letters, but to seek from your large knowledge & experience an opinion as to whether my articles & drawings possess such merit as would justify a man in straitened circumstances in building hopes upon them.

Hitherto I have been unfortunate in my collection of Eucalyptus flowers for you: I cannot discover any way of preventing the delicate flowers from withering, so I now forward you two specimens, one of Black-butt & the other of Mountain Ash to see if they will meet your purposes in that condition.

The bark of mountain ash is thick, rugged & corrugated like that of Iron bark: the wood is heavy, elastic, & will bear hammering on end: hence it is valued for ships trenails & shafts of vehicles. It is in everyday requisition for paling, shingles, laths & fence rails: splits freely off the quarter; is never used as sawn stuff, & will not stand the ground.

Black butt timber is hard, dense & durable. For fencing purposes, either as posts or rails; for slabs shingles, shafts, mauls, swingtrees, & all such like purposes there is no better timber in these forests. For planking of all kinds, for indoors or out, the wood is in great request, & young trees of Yellow Blackbutt are frequently used for spars & masts of vessels. The timber splits more freely on the back: is usually tough & inlocked on the quarter, & is comparatively free from the attacks of destructive insects.

P.S. I thank you very much for your kind offer to name for me the plants of this neighbourhood, but I am afraid the luxury of collecting is one that I cannot afford for myself.