Ferdinand von Mueller

1

Letter not found; text is from a file copy in the Museum's letter-copy book. See Lucas et al. (1994).

16th May 1862

Sir,

Since the receipt of your letter of the 15th of April informing me "that it had been brought under the notice of the Government that some proposal for the removal from Victoria of the remarkable meteorite now lying at Cranbourne had been mooted and that you were directed by the Hon. G. S. Evans to state that he understood that great anxiety was felt at the proposal of this national curiosity being removed from the colony and that the question was about to be raised in Parliament and asking me to give Dr Evans any information which I could on the subject: — I have made various additional enquiries and I beg to state

1st That on Mr Fitzgibbon reading a paper about two years ago on this meteorite

2

Edmund FitzGibbon; See 'Proceedings' of the meeting of the Royal Society of Victoria held on 4 June 1860, Transactions of the Royal Society of Victoria, vol. 5, pp. viii-x.

I acting as Director of the National Museum on behalf of that Institution requested Mr Daintree of the Geological Survey who is a personal friend of Mr Bruce

3

James Bruce.

the owner of the meteorite to endeavour to obtain the specimen for the Natl. Colln. and to incur out of the Museum vote the expense of its removal to town. From circumstances over which I had no control this was not done at the time and at a subsequent period the smaller of the two meteorites existing near Cranbourne was purchased by a Mr Abel and brought to Melbourne for about £50. This smaller specimen about the time of the opening of the last Exhibition was offered for sale to me for the N. M. but as Mr Abel at first refused to name any definite price and finally demanded several hundred pounds for the specimen besides demanding to cut off a large portion for private sale and actually shipped it at the expense of the Exhibition Commissioners for Exhibition in London prior to selling to the British Mus I was obliged to decline his final proposition sent through Dr Mueller

2. On the smaller of the two Cranbourne Meteorites being thus sent home for the Brit. Mus. collection I renewed my efforts for obtaining the remaining one for the Victn Nat colln and wrote as strongly as I could to Mr Bruce on the subject enlisting his sympathies on behalf of our Colonial collection pointing out that the smaller adjacent meteor had already been sent home by a private speculator for sale to the Brit. Mus. Mr Bruce was good enough to reply that he had originally intended the specimen for the Brit. Mus. but in consequence of my representations he willingly consented to have the specimen cut in two half to be retained by the N. M. here. I therefore caused enquiries to be made and tenders obtained for the cutting and removing the mass to town but before I cd succeed in getting satisfactory arrangements completed Dr Mueller had sent his Botanical Assistant Mr Heyne (as Mr Bruce informed me by letter) urging the completion of an arrangement for sending the whole of the Meteor home at once to the Brit. Mus. with the Authorities of which Institution Dr M. had placed himself in correspondence and to whom he it seems had promised to send the specimen. Mr Bruce informed me that he supposed Dr M. was thus acting with my knowledge and consent and under this misapprehension agreed to the proposition. On mentioning to Dr M. that I considered it my duty to the N. M. to endeavour to the utmost to retain for this colony at least the half of the second meteor wh. I had been promised and he, Dr M, having been aware of the first Meteorite from the same neighbourhood having already been sent home for sale to the Brit. Mus. I trusted that especially as the matter was not in his department of colonial Science that he would not urge any claims which he might have established upon it to the great injury of the Colonial Scientific Department to which it wd properly belong even if he had perhaps hastily promised that it also as well as the first shd go to the Brit. Mus. leaving no representative of so interesting a natural curiosity in the colony in which it fell. Dr M. however seemed disinclined to admit the claims of this colony to the possession of one of the meteorites and mentioned that the Secy of State shd be applied to if any opposn was shewn to its removal and in a few days afterwards I received a note making me aware of the fact that he had used his persuasive powers with H.E. the Govr who acquiesced in his view in total ignorance of the fact that I had been exerting myself to obtain the whole or a part of the Specimen for the Nat. Mus.

3. H. E. Sir H Barkly on my making him aware of the facts paid himself the cost of moving the Meteorite to Melbourne where it has now been set up temporarily in front of the Nat. Mus. and His Exy. expressed his opinion that the authorities of the Brit. Mus shd be communicated with asking whether they wd. purchase the smaller of the two Cranb. Meteorites sent home to the Exhibn and send it out here for the Victn N. M on condition of receiving entire the present one in exchange or if they refuse this condition that casts shd be made of the present Meteorite wh. shd then be cut in halves, one portion being sent to the Brit. Mus. and one half kept here in accordance with the original promise of Mr Bruce to me

Begging to take this opportunity of reiterating my strong opinion that both of those meteorites shd not be lost to the Colony (both being sent to the Brit Mus but that either one or at least half of one shd be secured for our Nat Mus