To George Grey   4 December 1862

Melbourne botanic Garden

4/12/62

Sir George,

I have to express my [great] thanks to your Excellency for the kindness of sending me the valuable seeds, which by a recent mail I received from you Excellency for this garden. These are are so much more valuable as they are of useful kinds and from a country in climate so similar to this colony.

Your Excellency will observe a public record of this donation in a copy of the Melbourne Herald, transmitted by this mail.1

I beg to enclose a few seeds of both the white and pink flowered variety of the Swainsonia,2 discovered by Lady Grey at the Murray River.

The transmission of the fallow deers, desired by your Excellency, has been so long postponed in consequence of the impossibility of capturing the animals until their antlers dropped; but as so far the danger of handling these animals is now removed and a net purposely made for securing them, I hope to be soon in the position of forwarding some, and in doing so I shall be highly gratified to aid your Excellency in the noble design of adding to the natural treasures of your islands; and any other aid, which in my humble capacity I may be able to afford in this and other philanthropic objects will, I need scarcely say, will always be cheerfully rendered.

A few weeks ago I had the honor of forwarding to your Excellency some pamphlets from the Royal Archaeologic Society of Copenhagen and a solicitation from Prof Dr Rafn, the great historian, and the Secretary of the Society to join their ranks.3 I would be truly delighted if your Excellency like Sir John Young of Sydney would consent to add your illustrious name to that of the many great men embraced in the Society of my scandinavian friends.

I remain, with sentiments of profound veneration & respect,

your Excellencys

very humble

Ferd Mueller.

 

His Excellency

Sir George Grey, K.C.B. &c &c &c

Governor in Chief of New Zealand

 

Swainsonia

1
See Herald (Melbourne), 1 December 1862, p. 5, where a report on current developments in the Botanic Garden acknowledges the donation of ‘a collection of seeds—chiefly South African—and esculent plants, presented to the gardens by His Excellency Sir George Grey, K.C.B., Governor of New Zealand’.
2
Orthographic variant of Swainsona greyana . See APNI.
3
Letter not found.

Please cite as “FVM-62-12-04b,” 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 26 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/62-12-04b