Ferdinand von Mueller

Botanic Garden

Adelaide , August 16 18 69

G Bentham Esqr.

Dear Sir

It is nearly thirty years since that I had the pleasure of being introduced to you by my late brother Sir Robert just as we were starting on the British Gu i ana

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Now Guyana.

Boundary expedition to which I was attached by the Prussian government as naturalist.

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To collect for the Royal Prussian Museum and the Botanical Gardens at Berlin (Payne (1992), p. 128).

In 1865 I was appointed director of the Botanic Garden Adelaide S outh Australia . You will have heard that a part of the North c oast is ceded to South Australia

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i.e. what became known as the Northern Territory.

and that the government sent several Expeditions there for investigating etc. this part of our colony.

In former occasions my applications to the G overnment to attach to these Expeditions a naturalist was of no avail, but I am glad to say, I have succeeded at last and an ener getic naturalist a Mr Schul t z

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F. Schultze.

was appointed to Mr Goyders E xpedition which left Adelaide last January for P ort Darwin

By favour of Dr. Hooker you will receive a collection of 250 spec. d ried plants collected at P ort Darwin , the first fruits of our able naturalist which you will accept as a present for your H erbarium from our G overnment.

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Bentham had no herbarium of his own at this period, having donated his private collection to Kew in 1854. Bentham made use of the specimens collected by Schultze in relevant volumes of Bentham (1863-78) published from 1870 onwards. Most If not all Schultze specimens at Kew carry either a printed label saying "PORT DARWIN NORTH AUSTRALIA. | From R. Schomburgk Oct 1869" or a handwritten one with text similar to that from specimen 749: "Port Darwin | Coll Schultz | Com. R. Schomburgk | 6/1870".

There were about 40 spec. of plants of which only one specimen was received and these I have forwarded to doctor Hooker from whom you will receive them. I would have sent the se unique specimens to Dr. Mueller Melbourne, but on account of his excentrick behaviour towards me I deemed it better to send the uniques to you.

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M requested and was sent by Schomburgk a set of Schultz's specimens (see M to R. Schomburgk, 8 August 1869), but, as this letter reveals, his request that he be lent the uniques was not met.

Should amongst these be new species I should be obliged by you sending me the names marked with the same number as attached to the plant. Please be so kind as not mention any thing to Dr. Mu e ller about these unique s .

I adopted the same Botanical-Note-Book as I used during my travels in Guiana.

As soon as the next collection arrives from Mr Schultz I will forward them to you