Ferdinand von Mueller

When Chalmers visited Melbourne, a public meeting presided over by the Governor was held on 14 June 1886, at which M moved a vote of appreciation of Chalmers's services

in not only carrying the blessings of Christianity to the savage populations of New Guinea but in advancing also the science of geography by penetrating into the wildest recesses of that large island thus revealing to us simultaneously many new for ms of the wondrous works throug h which Almighty God speaks to us in living nature; and that this meeting further gratefully recognises the aid cheerfully rendered by Mr Chalmers and by his estimable colleague Mr Lawes, by which exploratory efforts were vasttly ( sic ) promoted in that great country with which, indeed Mr Chalmers's name will ever be historically identif ied and where it will be cherished in the future by a flourishing community, and will be held in grateful remembrance by the native races.

('Public welcome to the Rev. J. Chalmers', Argus , 15 June 1886, p. 7, col. g.)

The Argus (20 May 1886, p. 5) reported that at the special meeting of the Council of the Victorian Branch of the Geographical Society

On the motion of Baron von Mueller it w a s resolved th a t Mr. Forbes be asked whether in the event of the Geographical Society subsidising h im he is willing to m a k e his expedition a geo graphical one solely —his efforts to be con centrated in ascending Mount Owen Stanley in the present cool months; th a t he be asked the minimum expenditure which the expedition would entail ; and also, whether h e will r emain in Cooktown for 10 or 14 days while an effort is being made to see whether sufficient funds can be raised here and in the other colonies for such an expedition.

In the 'Under the Verandah' column in the Leader , 29 May 1886, p. 26, 'Atticus' reported that at the meeting of the society 'last week', M had suggested seeking private funds to aid Forbes' s explorations, and he

held out as an inducement to the wealthy that "the names of donors should be perpetuated in the nomenclature of rivers, mountains and other geographical features of the country which Mr. Forbes would examine." If this proposal is adopted we may look upon the exploration of New Guinea as already accomplished. Who would grudge a paltry £500 to have his name figure on the map of the world as godfather to a grand geographical feature? How far superior to an ordinary knighthood, or the privilege of writing C.M.G. after one's name, to have a cape a mountain or a river as a passport to fame? Of course there should be a tariff, say £500 for a main range or a principal river, £100 an isolated peak or a tributary, and £50 some geographical trifle that would only be known in the neighborhood. And what a magnificent oppportunity (sic) for advertisers. There is a fortune in the idea of a Hop Bitters Bay, a Cockle's Pill Land, or a Pears's Soap Lake; and I have not the slightest doubt that many enterprising sewing machine makers would be satisfied to bear the whole expense for the sake of having the geographical features named after their wares. The idea is excellent but for one thing. The Imperial Government has taken every precaution to prevent the British Papuans from being plundered by the white man. We cannot take their persons, their lands or their property, and yet the Baron coolly proposes to plunder them of their names. Who steals their purses steals trash; but he that filches from them their good names to minister to the vanity of a Victorian man of money robs them of that which will not enrich geographical knowledge, and will leave them poor indeed. Is there no nobler feeling the Baron can appeal to than that which actuates the British tourist when he carves his initials on the Pyramids?

M had used a similar strategy to fund the explorations of Ernest Giles: see M to D Mackinnon, 7 January 1873, p. 3 (B75.04.07).

See also M to the Royal Society of Queensland, 19 May 1886, and M to A. Macdonald, 29 May 1886.