22/7/80.
Australia is very poor in palms & bamboos, dear Sir Joseph,1 and where perhaps an odd one might yet be got, there the natives are savage & murderous, as poor Kennedy's disastrous expedition showed.2 I rather meet a lion in Central Africa than a Cannibal in N. E. Australia; fever is also quite alike bad at either part of the world. Still I keep my eyes on this region & will watch any safe opportunity to get something from there, though I have no high expectations, after Rockingham Bay district became extensively searched. I hope, you will not dissect the palm genera in the manner done by Scheffer, Wendland & Drude. Even Beccari is not conservative enough.3
With best regards
Ferd von Mueller
Please cite as “FVM-80-07-22a,” 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 28 March 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/80-07-22a