Stockholm
May 15th 1890
Dear Sir,
Most of the notices in the Newspapers about the intended Swedish south polar expedition are not exact. It is true that such an expedition had been planned here. It should start in the summer 1891 or perhaps 1892 and I have already at my disposal for it from Baron Dickson a sum of five thousand (5000) £, and one or two thousand more may be rised in Sweden for the purpose. Our King will probably also take an interest in the undertaking. I had also ground to believe that the Governements of the Australi colonies or private persons from there should contribute the same amount.1 But the last news from Australia are very unfavourable. An opinion seems to have arisen in the colonies against such an undertaking, especially gainst in cooperation with foreigners. In that case our expedition will be an exclusively Swedish undertaking and equipped in to modest a scale to admit the association of a foreigner.
I am therefore under the necessity to decline your offer which I regard as a honour for our former explorations in the polar regions and for which I send you my hearty thanks. But it seems to me that there should not be any difficulty in the fatherland of Barents, Linschoten, Tasman and hundred other great Dutch explorers and patriots to start were it [teen] antarctic expeditions especially to polar regions south of your great colonies in Australasia.
Your most truly
A E Nordenskiöld
Please cite as “FVM-90-05-15a,” 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