To Edward Ramsay   24 December 1874

Christmaseve 1

Private

 

Can you tell me, dear Mr Ramsay, whether anything is known concerning the achievements of the Challenger at New Guinea? I am still anxious to send a Collector, but have to do it out of my private means. The main object for me would be to get the alpine plants. Pray do not speak of my enquiring, for it would only draw the attention of competitors to that object. The question resolves itself to his. Did the Challenger-party reach the Snowy hights?

Regardfully your

Ferd. von Mueller

1
Though filed after M's letter to Ramsay of 4 September 1891, this letter is dated here to 1874, when the oceanographical research vessel HMS Challenger was in Australian waters and M was urging Ramsay either himself to go with it to New Guinea, or to send a collector with it, to investigate the alpine regions of the eastern part of the island. In December 1874 M would not yet have known that the ship did not, in the end, visit New Guinea. See M to E. Ramsay, 26 August 1874, 1 September 1874, 9 September 1874, and 14 February 1875 (in this edition as 75-02-14a).

Please cite as “FVM-74-12-24,” 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 16 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/74-12-24