The Belfast gazette published the following summary of the telegram: 'A telegram was read from Baron Von Mueller, stating he had forwarded a bag of creeping grass seed for sowing on the hummocks besides six packets of other seeds' (Belfast gazette, 4 May 1877, p. 3).
Council resolved that 'McPherson'—probably Robert McPherson, Road Overseer—'attend to the driving in of piles & wiring in of Hummocks fencing', and that 'Mr Prior be empowered to employ necessary assistance in planting out seed on hummock'.
Telegram not found. The text given here is from the minutes of a meeting of the Belfast Borough Council held on 2 May 1877. M's telegram is dated to April on the assumption it would have been sent when his parcel was despatched; the curator of the local Botanic Garden, James Prior, reported at the meeting that the seeds had been received. Nelson maintained a weekly service between Melbourne and Portland calling at Warrnambool and Belfast (now Port Fairy), and although it is possible that the voyage that departed Melbourne on 1 May could have arrived at Belfast by 2 May, it is more likely that the parcel was sent, received and examined in April.
Please cite as “FVM-77-04-00a,” 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