Melbourne bot. & zoologic Gardens
10 Aug. 1859.
Sir
I have the honor to solicit, that you will be pleased to permit me to defray out of the wages fund placed under my control for the current quarter the sum of £78, being payment to Mr Oldfield, our botanical collector in Western Australia from January 1st til June 30th 1859 at the rate of 10/— for every work day, including both renumeration for his services and travelling expenses.
The reason for my delaying to apply for this sum arose from the circumstance that Mr Oldfield was meditating of entering into the services of the survey-department of Western Australia at the beginning of the year and it is only now after his return from the botanical exploration of the interior of Western Australia towards Sharks bay that he intimated the acceptance of my offer.
I may add that the payment of 10/— a day will barely defray the outlay of the journey and that his collections from a botanically new field will be as well of great interest to Science as of value to our herbarium, whilst the seeds will be most acceptable to us for our garden and for interchange.
I have the honor to be
sir
your most obedient & humble servant
Ferd. Mueller
The Honorable the Chief Secretary
&c &c &c2
Please cite as “FVM-59-08-10,” in Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, edited by R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora†, J.H. Voigt† and Monika Wells accessed on 25 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/59-08-10