Ferdinand von Mueller

1

Letter not found. For the text given here, see Proceedings and Transactions of the Queensland Branch of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia , 5th session, 1889-90, pp. 101-2 (B90.14.02). The letter was read at the 5th annual general meeting of the Branch, 28 July 1890.

Melbourne, 23rd July, 1890.

To J. P. Thomson, Esq., F.R.S.G.S., &c; Hon. Treasurer and Secretary of the Queensland Branch of the R.G.S.A., &c.

Dear Sir,

On behalf of the Victorian Council of the R.G.S.A., we beg to offer our best felicitation at the new anniversary of the Queensland Branch of our Society, when his Excellency, your honored Governor,

2

Sir Henry Norman.

will give, as representative of our gracious Sovereign, to your festival the greatest eclat, when on a distinguished statesman there will devolve the position of President, after that honored office has been held by prominent predecessors, when the great value of your own secretarial services will anew be recognised, and when, doubtless, further measures for the next year’s work of your Branch will be initiated, as well in the interest of purely scientific geography as in the furtherance of colonial settlements and the industrial advantages connected therewith.

The Queensland Branch has prominently distinguished itself by the frequency of its meetings, by the multitude of subjects brought forward at the gatherings, and by the copiousness and originality of its publications; thus all augurs well for the future of its progress, especially as the vastness of the Queenland territory, the richness of its resources, and the direct administrative contact of your colony with British New Guinea, under its highly scientific Administrator,

3

Sir William MacGregor.

give a particularly ample scope to the action of your Branch in our geographic confederation. May a hope also be expressed, at your present festival, that the attention of your great colony could likewise be directed to the far South, more particularly so, as new geographic enterprises, in the antarctic regions, will tend to enlarge still further the scientific insight into the physiography of our planet, and as simultaneously a new vast area would be opened for obtaining additional products, to call forth or promote commerce and new industries, for increasing the public revenue and augmenting manifold private wealth, in all the Australian Colonies.