King & Cunningham Stock & Station Agents |
67 Bourke Street West. Melbourne Decr 27 1883 |
My dear Baron von Mueller
I have sent by Parcel post to you today a leaf and portion of flower stem of the orchid procured for me by Lieutt Goldfinch of H M S Emerald in 1881 from off a branch of a large tree 5 or 6 feet from the ground under which is the grave of Lieutt Bower of H M S Surveying vessel "Sandfly" who was murdered by the natives of the Florida Islands, one of the Solomon Group. The Island on which the orchid grew is named "Mandoliana" about 5 or 6 miles South of the central Florida, is only ¾ of a mile long and not more than 20 feet above the sea in any point and covered with high timber. The touching account of poor Bower's murder was given in the Sydney morning Herald of 4th July 1881 or 1882.1
The stem is about four feet long rising erect from the base of the Pseudo bulb which is about 9 inches long oval in shape, with one side flatter than the rest; on the stem are from 30 to 40 flowers from some joints two flowers but on separate branches. the flowers last five weeks no scent. If the orchid is new I should like it named after poor Bower who was highly esteemed by all who knew him Sydney.2
I hope this beautiful weather and the change of air is helping to make you strong and well again and wishing you the compliments of the season in which my wife and daughters join
I remain yours
truly
Arthur S King
Should the box & flowers not arrive safely I can let you have another in a week or two.
ASK
'Execution of the murderers of Lieutenant Bower and boat's crew', Sydney morning herald, 4 July 1881, p. 9. Bower and his party were killed in October 1880; see 'Massacre of Lieutenant Bower and five seamen of H.M S. Sandfly', Sydney morning herald, 2 December 1880, p. 7.
The dedication in M's description of Cymbidium boweri (B83.08.03) concludes 'a more fitting plant could not be imagined, than this mourning-coloured Cymbidium, to grace the grave of the brave but unfortunate young officer as a permanent emblem of sorrow on the lonely but historical spot of his mortal rest'. M's inference about Bower's burial place is not entirely correct: some of Bower's remains were later repatriated to Sydney (see Sydney daily telegraph, 23 June 1881, p. 2), and were reburied at Crows Nest, NSW.
Found with a specimen of Cymbidium boweri (MEL 2420355).
Please cite as “FVM-83-12-27,” 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