[When Baron von Mueller wrote me in 1865,1 through the late Dr. Gaillein,2 one of the owners of Herbert Downs,3 asking that I would make inquiry through the blacks for any traces of Leichhardt or his companions, I took a black boy who could speak English, and asked all the old blackfellows and gins we came across if they ever heard of an old white man long ago, but we had no success. … However, no trace of any half-caste children did we discover, and I am positive no man ever saw any half-caste children during my long residence in the neighbourhood.]
M's letter is dated using this comment, consistent with the time that M was very active in promoting a search organised by the Ladies Leichhardt Search Committee (see M Bunney et al. to J. McCulloch, 9 May 1865 (in this edition as M65-03-08)), although possible descendants are not mentioned in the appeals by Wilkie & M (B64.14.04) or M's lecture (B65.02.01) resulting from supposed traces of Leichhardt found by Duncan Macintyre (see 'Mr. D. McIntyre's journey across Australia. from Victoria to the Gulf of Carpentaria, and discovery of supposed traces of Leichhardt', Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, 9:300-305, 1865). The major discussion of possible descendants of the Leichhardt party took place in 1880-81. M to the Editor of the Age, 20 February 1880 (in this edition as 80-02-00a), indicated that tribes in the vicinity should be communicated with for further clues; a letter to the manager of Herbert Downs station would be consistent with that intent. No other surviving 1880s letter concerning Leichhardt written by M directly mentions these claims, although he did hope that David Lindsay's privately funded exploration would 'set at rest all roumours concerning Leichhardt and his companions' (M to A. Lindsay, 9 December 1885).
D. Lewis (2013, p. 281) suggests that M's letter to Walford was 'perhaps in response to' C. Winnecke to M, 2 January 1884; however that letter does not mention possible descendants, and the rivers mentioned are c.280-300 km SSW of Herbert Downs Station.
Not further identified.
Property in Qld, c. 350 km south of Mt Isa.
Letter not found. The text given here is from 'Leichhardt's party', a letter from Walford to the Editor, Sydney morning herald, 7 May 1896, p. 6. The letter was commenting on a statement in the newspaper that 'a man informed [Mr C. T. Burfitt] that in 1876 he saw three half caste children on Herbert Downs, who probably owed their origin to Leichhardt's party' ('Fate of Leichhardt', Sydney morning herald, 20 April 1896, p. 4). The passage quoted here is part of Walford's general debunking of the story. Walford gave his credentials as 'I managed Herbert Downs station for upwards of seven years and previous to that took a thousand head of cattle out to form the Sandringham station on the Mulligan River. Sandringham is about 80 miles as the crow flies in a south-westerly direction from Herbert Downs, and a great meeting place of various tribes of blacks, who come in from great distances to gather pitchery. The tribes of Lake Ameroo and Toko and Lakes Onditta and Idamere, the three latter west of Herbert Downs, I was acquainted with fully 16 years ago'.
Please cite as “FVM-65-00-00h,” 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