Proserpine River 27/4/89
"Bowen" Queensland
I send you by this mail my dear Baron the
fruit
accompanied with the flowers of a plant of which you requested me a long time ago
to get the former, also a few other specimens of the radiated stemmed plant I have
not yet obtained the fruit, but if interesting I can procure it for you — there [are]
some ferns (small) in this locality that I have not noticed elsewhere. I shall send
some hereafter when the weather clears up — I know that the spores must appear in
the specimens, yet even if they are at present without spores, such as you deem worthy
of collection may be secured when perfect.
I think Mr Christy Palmerston may be heard of at or near "Cairns"
a letter addressed to him "
to be forwarded
" would reach him —
I shall attend to your wishes as regards water weeds, I regret I am so far from the
coast, but I shall nevertheless see some of fishermen near Bowen about the food of
the Dugong.
I shall visit Mt Dryander
and I believe I shall have to cut my way up, for it is densely scrubbed, I must reach
the Pines — they must be very large, for although so high up I can distinguish their
trunks fully 3 miles off. —
I have been searching for Snails and found some remarkably large and also some that
were rare, amongst them one
new
— the finder has been ignored (thats me) the person to whom I sent them, submitted
them to Mr Brazier F.Z.S. — he, the person to whom they were sent, has received the
credit of being the discoverer, tis a lesson I shall remember to the gentlemans cost.
My results "re" Mt Dryander shall be forwarded to you
alone
Yours faithfully
C. W. de Burgh Birch
Zelling
We have a
? Bulbous and leaves like a shalot, found only on Tea trees — another with leaves
like a
— another with leaves like the common white Fleur de Lys but shorter (say 6 inches
long) as they flower I think I could send the plant per post if likely to be new or
rare.
