From Edward Strickland   15 August 1886

Sydney

15th Augst 1886.

My dear Baron

On the very day on which I received your letter¹ announcing that you had secured £1000 in the Estimates for your branch of the Society, I was taken ill. Therefore could not congratulate you, on an event in which I sincerely rejoice.

Accept now my best congratulations — of course we do not in the least expect that any portion of it can be applied towards the payment of our liabilities — I have been in bed during the last week, for five days, during that time I received your second very kind letter of the 11th telling me of your kind and successful efforts to get together £100 to send to us²

It will be needless for me to assure you of our sincere gratitude. We were very much disappointed with Mr Macleay³ who objected to giving any aid, pecuniary or otherwise except £10-10.

I have very little hopes from West Australia, but shall write there - From Queensland we expect nothing, but really I do not see how we are to get out of our difficulty.

I trust that you are enjoying good health, here we have much sickness but the rains and rise in the price of wool has cheered us up so much that we think nothing of anything else

I very heartily wish you success in your Antarctic explorations and all else - With renewed thanks for your timely aid, believe me to be.

sincerely yours

E Strickland