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85.11.12aPreferred Citation:
William Armit to Ferdinand von Mueller, 1885-11-12 [85.11.12a]. 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/1880-9/1885/85-11-12a-final.odt>, accessed June 13, 2026
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Telegram not found. The text given here is from '’The Rumored Massacre in New Guinea:
The Latest Information’, in Herald (Melbourne), 12 November 1885, p. 3. It is preceded by:
The steamer City of Melbourne arrived here this afternoon from Thursday Island, and
brings intelligence that two Papuan boys have arrived at the island, and state that
the whole of Captain Everill's party were encamped on a tributary of the Fly River,
137 miles from the coast. They trusted entirely to the natives, and kept no regular
watch at night. One night the natives, who had been mustering from all quarters, crept
on to the camp in large numbers, and rushing the sleeping men murdered everyone of
them on the spot. The two Papuan boys in the confusion, and aided by their color,
escaped, and made their way down the Fly River, travelling by night. There is a general
feeling that some one should be sent to look into the matter. Captain Armit is now
at Cooktown, and as he knows more of New Guinea and the natives than any white man
excepting, perhaps, the Rev Mr Chalmers, he is naturally indicated as a fit man to
lead a party.
In contradiction of the above, Baron Von Mueller this morning received the following
telegram from Captain W. E. Armit, at Cooktown: