Ferdinand von Mueller

Queensland Chambers

18 Bridge Street

1

Sydney.

27th December 95

To Baron Sir Ferdinand Von Mueller KCMG, PhD, FRGS, &c

Melbourne Victoria

Sir

I was very much pleased to see a short paragraph in the Scottish Geographical Magazine for November

2

See Scottish geographical magazine, 1895, p. 598.

last relative to a proposal of yours, "That an Expedition should be sent out to the South West of Australia to search for the remains of Leichhardt and party" which shows that you have not abandoned the hope of yet unveiling the mystery that shrouds their unaccountable disappearance.

It does seem more than strange that [no trace] of their Camps or effects have ever been discovered through the many years that have elapsed since they left McPhersons Station

3

Allan Macpherson; 'Coogan', Mount Abundance, Darling Downs, Qld.

on the lagoon in 1848. Had the party perished for want of water, disease or at the hands of the blacks (the latter is most improbable) something must have remained of the equipment and been obtained by the tribes in the locality of the disaster [...] and I am fully impressed even at this length of time that some relics still exist with them and if [right] means were adopted to make a thorough search and enquiries through the [...] of such of the natives who are known to travel in the capacity of Ambassadors or agents of barter from tribe to tribe and being linguists would most probably, if they could be made to understand the nature of the information required to be obtained, bring back some tidings of the fate or relics of the Expedition.

You must no doubt be aware that it was through the means of some enquiries amongst the [...] that Capt Francis Hall discovered the relics of the Frobisher Expedition that had remained a hidden mystery for over two hundred and eighty-four years see Life with the Esquimaux p. 243:

4

C. F. Hall (1864). The English navigator Martin Frobisher (c1535-1594) led several expeditions to the Canadian Arctic, 1576-8. Crummer evidently had a different edition than the original publication of Hall's narrative, where finding relics of Frobisher's expedition on 11 August 1861 is reported in vol. 2, pp. 77 ff.

if such facts could be preserved by that people for nearly three centuries, why not a similar record be preserved by the blacks of an event that happened amongst them only 50 years back and [...] with the memory of those still living?

Such investigations would have to be undertaken by some one who is well acquainted with the habits and customs of the blacks, so as to enable him to select from the [...] tribe such of the natives who were in the habit of travelling as Ambassadors and Agents and who could impress upon them the necessary information required to be obtained which might be helped by the aid of showing illustrating horses, sheep, goats, tents &c by which the [sea] blacks would be able to recognize the animals &c that accompanied the Expedition.

I am strongly of the opinion of Mr [Giles]

5

Ernest Giles.

and Mr Tietkens that Leichhardt never crossed to the West of the Overland Telegraph Line but only reached as far as that [...] of Country laying between the Telegraph Line and the Hay and Mulligan Rivers and while encamped in one of the depressions was overwhelmed by flood waters which are known at times in that locality to rush down with great volume, sweeping every thing before them and forming as it were an inland sea for miles in circumference, and covered over with the silt and debris that accompanies them - This seems to be the only solution of the problem that surrounds the total and mysterious disappearance of so large an Expedition.

It is owing to your efforts and perseverence that the previous Expeditions in search of Leichhardt & party were sent out, and it is hoped that the present proposal will be met in the spirit it deserves, and that the several colonies will unite in providing funds for that object, for it is a duty they owe to Dr Leichhardt and party who lost their lives in the service of Australian Exploration, in their endeavours to traverse and open up its trackless and unknown wastes and should do all that is yet possible to ascertain their fate.

I trust you will not consider it presumptuous in offering the suggestion about making use of the blacks, but as it may not have occurred to you that they might be made the medium of obtaining the end desired, perhaps you would give it your valuable consideration.