From George Bennett   31 December 1866

Sydney Decr. 31st. 1866

My Dear Dr. Mueller,

I was delighted to read your letter in the Australasian of Decr. 29th.¹ respecting the Australian Cassowary just discovered or perhaps re-discovered. You will probably recollect that a new Cassowary was discovered by the late Mr. Thomas Wall in Kennedy's unfortunate expedition & the following account was published by Gould in his “Handbook to the Birds of Australia (Vol. 2 pp. 206, 7).²

“Altho’³ no specimen of this bird has been brought before the scientific world, we cannot, I think, doubt that a species of this form does really exist in the Northern part of Australia, but whether if would be identical with some previously described species inhabiting New Guinea and the neighbouring islands, or entirely new, must remain for the present an open question. All that we at present know on the subject is comprised in the following extract from the “Illustrated Sydney Herald”⁴ — “A specimen of this bird was procured by the late Mr. Thomas Wall, naturalist to the expedition commanded by Mr. Kennedy. It was shot near Cape York, in one of those inaccessible gullies which about⁵ in that part of the Australian Continent. This Cassowary when erect, stands about five feet high, the head is without feathers, but covered with a blue skin, & like the Emu, is almost without wings, having mere rudiments; the body is thickly covered with dark brown wing feathers; on the head is a large prominence or helmet of a bright red colour, & to the neck are attached like bells, six or eight round fleshy balls of bright blue & scarlet which give the bird a very beautiful appearance. The first & indeed the only specimen obtained of the Australian Cassowary was unfortunately left at Weymouth Bay, & has not been recovered. Mr. Wall being most anxious for its preservation, had secured it in a canvas bag and carried it with him to the spot, where unfortunately for science, it was lost. In the ravine where the bird was killed, as well as other deep & stony gullies of that neighbourhood, it was seen running in companies of seven or eight. On that part of the North eastern coast, therefore, it is probably plentiful, & will be met with in all the deep gullies at the base of the high hills. The flesh was eaten & found to be delicious.”⁶ It has been named Casuarius Australis.

Mr Carron, one of the survivors of that expedition, informed me some months ago, in answer to my enquiry respecting the Cassowary shot during this expedition, that the helmet crest on the head was of a black color, & the neck & throat was mixed with red & other colours. Two specimens were shot and eaten by his party. This occurred in the dense scrubs in Weymouth Bay near Cape York close to the coast. My friend Mr. J. B. Jukes in his “Narrative of the Surveying Voyage of the Fly”⁷ (Vol 1st. p. 155) when off the Coast of Australia says “Captn. Blackwood landed upon Mt. Ernest (807 ft. high).⁸ The feathers, so abundantly used by the natives⁹ as ornaments on their canoes & other articles by all these islanders were at first taken by us for Emu feathers as a matter of course, & supposed to be procured from the main land of Australia. I was afterwards, however, induced to doubt the correctness of that supposition & comparing them¹⁰ with the feathers of the Emu found them to be totally distinct from any Emu feathers. They are probably therefore feathers of the Cassowary or some similar bird & are derived from New Guinea instead of Australia.¹¹ You can make what use you like of this communication.

Believe me

Your sincere friend

George Bennett.