From Thomas Black1    11 March 1863

March 11th [186]32

Dear Sir

I brought under the notice of the Council yesterday your valued letters with their various enclosures and now beg to report to you their decisions on the different matters.

Fallow deer, The Council regret to hear that these animals are again becoming dangerous. Mr Wilson is now out of town and until he can fix a time to receive his portion it seems to be incurring a needless risk to remove them. With reference to the deer intended for New Zealand the Council are very reluctant to send these valuable creatures out of the country and it was decided to reconsider the matter at a future meeting when you should be present.3

Liberation of starlings & other birds. The Council are of opinion that it would be better to retain these birds in the Aviary until the early spring and then to liberate them when they will at once pair and commence breeding.

Birds for Mr Wigmore 4 The Council fully approve of your intention in sending birds to this gentleman. May I request that you will inform me what goes.

Request of Mr Noel for £5 The Council decline to enter again upon this matter having formally come to a decision previous to the receipt of this letter.5

Letter from Mr Ledger The Council are now in renewed communication with the Government upon this matter and until a definite answer is received through this channel they do not conceive themselves in a position to enter into any arrangement with Mr Ledger even if they were disposed so to do which at present they are far from being.6

Letter from Mr A McMillan The Council have decided to defer any definite decision upon the location of the Cashmere goats until after the arrival of these animals but Mr McMillan's offer will not be overlooked.

Letter from Mr C Autard The Secretary has been directed to write to this gentleman also Mr Francis making inquiries about the fish alledged to have been delivered at Adelaide.7

The Council are desirous of extending the plantations at the Park this season and I should be glad if you would inform me what trees in your estimation it is best to plant to form shelter for the animals there.

I am

Dear Sir

Yours faithfully

Thos Black

 

To Dr Mueller F.R.S.

1
Letter written by George Sprigg, Honorary Secretary, Acclimatisation Society of Victoria and signed by Black, the Acting President.
2
editorial addition.
3

At a meeting of the Council of the Acclimatiation Society held on 30 December 1862, it was agreed, on the motion of Frederick McCoy, ‘That no imported animals of useful or ornamental kinds be sent out of the colony in the way of exchange unless where such imported specimens had been procured by the Society as authorised agents for other governments or persons’ (VPRS 2223, unit 1, p. 307, PROV).

At a Council meeting on 10 March, M reported that the horns of the deer were growing very rapidly and that a buck had been killed the previous night in fighting (VPRS 2223, unit 1, p. 345, PROV).

On 19 March, Thomas Black wrote to Carl Wilhelmi, Assistant Botanist, Botanic Gardens, to say that the deer would be caught the next morning and that M had 'kindly promised the assistance of one of his men in catching the animals'. Two men were coming from the Royal Park with the drays (VPRS 2225, unit 2, p. 437, PROV).

4
Charles Wigmore, London.
5
On 4 February 1863, the Society had informed William Noel that it no longer required his services ‘& your engagement with Mr Wilson is finished'. The £10 he had already received was to be seen as a 'bonus' (VPRS 2225, unit 2, p. 318, PROV).
6
At its meeting on 10 March, the Council had received a letter from Ledger saying he was returning from South America to NSW and ‘suggesting that an accredited agent accompany him to receive the Alpacas and Vicunas collected by Mr. L’s agents for the Society’ (VPRS 2223, unit 1, p. 346, PROV).
7
On 13 March George Sprigg wrote to G. Francis, Botanic Gardens, Adelaide following a letter from C. Autard de Bragard to M (letter not found) about seven Guaramier placed in Francis' care 'with the understanding that after the fish had spawned some of the ova should be sent to Melbourne. This being the first intimation of the fact that has reached the Council I am directed by them to enquire if you will kindly inform them whether the fish are still in existence and what probability there exists of our receiving some ova of this much coveted fish.' (VPRS 2225, unit 2, p. 430, PROV). The same day Sprigg wrote to Autard de Bragard thanking him for drawing their attention to the existence of these fish, of which they had had no previous intimation (VPRS 2225, unit 2, p. 431, PROV).

Please cite as “FVM-63-03-11,” 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/63-03-11