Ferdinand von Mueller

1

Decorative letter head: 'ES'.

Private

Sydney 29th April 1886

My dear Baron

I have not replied to your always welcome letters of 14th and 16th April,

2

Letters not found.

for the very simple reasons that I have been too ill — too worried, and too excessively troubled by the affairs of the Society to be able to apply myself as needed to many matters of importance notably the subject matters of your two kind letters —

I have no hesitation in telling you that Capt Everill has behaved exceedingly ill to the Society in many respects, notably in the unpardonable delay in furnishing to us his report — After he had publicly read his report, several months ago,

3

On 4 February 1886 ('The late New Guinea Expedition', Daily telegraph (Sydney), 5 February 1886, p. 6.

he undertook, with permission of our Council, to have it printed — In vain we urged him month after month to furnish the report — We were always put off with some excuse — at last I found out, by chance, that the report had been sent for correction to Capt Everill long ago . We told him this when he came amongst us — again we were met by excuses plausible but foolish, in which he skilfully tried to prove that he was not to blame — as a matter of fact, the proof was at once corrected by one of our Council, and I myself worked anxiously to get the report printed — Several applications had been made for it, by the various authorities of Australia and by the various branches of our Society

4

Everill (1888). There is a copy of the report printed by the NSW Government Printer in 1886 in the National Library of Australia. It is presumably the text that accompanied Strickland's address to the Society (see below).

However well Capt Everill may have performed his duties as a leader, certainly he has been a most unsatisfactory man to deal with ever since his return and now as regards our pecuniary position.

Our Council here is of opinion that no good whatsoever would come of any direct application to the Governments of S. Australia or Western nevertheless it shall be made as a "pis aller" — We have discussed the question very carefully and thoroughly, whilst smarting excessively under the hardship of being burdened with heavy responsibilities incurred in the performance of a special and important duty for the benefit of the state — Even though we had failed in our performance we should have felt it unjust that punishment in any shape should be allowed to visit us, but when it is a matter of notoriety that we performed the duty well, and much to the advantage of Colonial interests of Geographical and scientific Interests always at a great personal sacrifice of time and labour, we do find it very hard to bear a punishment instead of a reward for our good public services — and again it should be remembered that, at a considerable cost to the Society a large and most instructive collection of curios from New Guinea was splendidly arranged and was visited by thousands during the Xmas holidays free of all charge . This was a great boon conferred upon the public by the Geo Society and as such it should be liberally rewarded — The public visited our collection in numbers fully as great as they visited the Art Gallery.

Mr Wood

5

Harrie Wood.

has interviewed Mr Gillies — I have interviewed Sir Patrick Jennings — From neither have we had a positive refusal — rather the reverse — at their instigation we are carefully preparing a full representation of our case to be laid before them, and we are, (at least I am), not at all hopeless of ultimate success, for I cannot conceive it possible, that in the long run, we shall be punished pecuniarily by our employers after we have liberally given to them gratuitously valuable time and labour — all this has been done for the Public good — and this all the more so when it is recollected that no sort of attempt is made to attach blame to us, and that we, from the very beginning, publicly warned the several Governments that the expedition was being undertaken in the face of a deficit of funds amounting to £500 stg —

Finally, we look upon ourselves simply in the light of public agents, employed by certain Governments to perform a specified duty, for which service a sufficiency of money was never given to us, and now an effort is being made to saddle men with the responsibilities and penalties of deficiency, after they have gratuitously given special labour, and much valuable time in the accomplishment of a task which throughout the civilized world redounds to the credit of the Australian Colonies.

Punishment in case of failure would have been a hardship, but I question the Equity, the honesty, of present proceedings in regard to our Council — Indeed, considering the clearness of our original warning of a deficiency, I am quite of opinion that existent indebtedness should be equally borne by all Councils of the Society throughout the Australias —

Certainly I do hope to see (if it becomes necessary) a vigorous and a dignified protest being at once made, to the Geographical Societies of Europe laying before them a truthful statement, and I feel certain that all Councils of Australia will cordially unite in a cooperative action of protest and remonstrance.

Of course nothing so strong need be resorted to before we have exhausted every other available means to secure justice locally.

I have told you that as a "pis aller" we will adopt your idea of an appeal to the Governments of South and Western Australia — success entirely depends upon our being able to convince them that we have done them a service which may be undone unless they contribute to support our action. I am sceptical about public generosity. I sympathise with you in your experiences as regards Western Australia, they are not encouraging to us on the present occasion — and South Australians here, ridicule the idea of melting Adelaide's heart no matter how urgent our needs, or justifiable our demand. From Queensland I am not without hope.

Your generosity in paying out of your own private means much of the cost of your printing, is beyond all praise — I fear we can boast of no such generosity here —

It would be to lead you astray were I to tell you that we have any hope whatever of a new annual Vote as matters are at present — nevertheless it is cheering to feel certain, that even a very small incident may completely change the aspect of everything as a small movement changes the view in a Kaleidoscope — We must have patience and hope for the best, although matters now look very desperate - you neither accept or reject our offer of the Diaries — I repeat what I have already said i.e. that we are in no one way in a position to deal with them — and tis a pity that they should be lost. Can you suggest any remedy — I am quite of opinion that if Capt Everill had given us the cordial support we had a right to expect from him, something might have been done with them at the first burst of victory on the return of the expedition — Now the time is past and each day serves to cool public interest in our exploration.

I rejoice to learn that you have made an arrangement with the authorities at home quite satisfactory to all parties concerned as regards the botanical specimens — and I will at once see Mr. Ramsay

6

Edward Ramsay.

regarding other specimens —

I am sure that he will be willing and glad to do what is right

I do very much hope now my dear Baron that I have replied to all your questions, and clearly laid before you the truth of our position — our hopes — our plans — It may I fear be summed up in a very few words — as the public will not help to support us, we cannot support ourselves — as a consequence sooner or later a collapse must come

Query1 How are we to stave it off?

" 2 Will it be possible to excite a scientific spirit into Australians?

7

The Branch was in financial difficulties, see E. Strickland to M, 1 March 1886 (in this edition as 86-03-01a).

We must die at our guns, and strive on, even against the dark cloud which envelopes us, without any silver lining — On 14th we are to have a general Meeting here and I shall read an address

8

The meeting was advertised for 18 May (Sydney morning herald, 17 May 1886, p. 16), but the President's address and other matters were postponed (Sydney morning herald, 19 May 1886, p. 7). The press evidently had a copy of the planned address, summarized in Sydney mor ni ng herald, 21 May 1886, p. 7, which noted that 'the results of the expedition to New Guinea, despatched under the command of Captain Everill by our own society, occupy a prominent place in Sir Edward Strickland's narrative, which, by the way, is accompanied by the Captain's official report'. Strickland's address was read at the adjourned meeting held on 17 June, and extensvely summarized in Sydney morning herald, 18 June 1886, p. 5.

— all in vain, I know but tis our duty — I shall D.V.

9

Deo volente [God willing].

write tomorrow to Mr. Macdonald

10

Letter not found.