Melbourne bot. & zool. Garden,
14 Nov. 1861.
Sir
I have the honor to report to you, that lately on several occasions at night time some of the young British trees planted in the reserve of the botanic Garden have been maliciously destroyed. Under these circumstances I would beg leave to suggest, that you would be pleased to offer a reward, in order to bring the perpetrators of this mischief to justice, it being not easy under the best vigilance to obviate entirely such occurrences.
I have the honor to be,
Sir,
your most obedient and humble servant
Ferd. Mueller.
The honorable the Chief Secretary1
&c &c &c
File annotated: ‘A permanent Reward of £5 for detection on linen posters & […] Gazette | Appd 21.11.61 J OSh’. 25 posters on canvas were prepared, and the reward was announced in the Victorian Government Gazette, no. 172, p. 2249, 22 November 1861.
Please cite as “FVM-61-11-14a,” 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