From Robert Etheridge   12 December 1895

12. XII. 95

My dear Baron,

Your letter re Mr Fitzgerald1 has reached me in safety. I trust that his return to Cooktown does not mean that he has failed in his object in going to New Guinea.

I should, believe me, be only too glad to help you in producing funds to assist Mr Fitzgerald, did my Board's resources permit of it, but, as I pointed out to you in a former letter,2 they do not. The Museum Vote for collections, has been cut off, and the Board does not possess the moneys that can be diverted for the purpose. I personally very much regret this, because it is from New Guinea that certain portions of our Collections require so many things —

On behalf of the Trustees I have, now to ask for your kind help. I am doing all I can to prepare a collection of Vegetable substances, not from a Botanical point of view, but to illustrate the food substances and manufactures of the Australian Aborigines. I forward you a press-copy list3 of the plants, portions of which I require; these are shown on the right-hand margin of each page. Any of these substances, seeds, roots, fruits barks, fibres, or woods will be very gratefully received. Many of the other species known to have been used by the Blacks I have; these are not mentioned on the list, the latter representing only my present desiderata. The native name of the substance, & name of the tribe using it are of course essential, when possible —

I am,

my dear Baron,

Faithfully yrs,

R. Etheridge4

1
Letter not found but registered as received at the Australian Museum, 10 December 1895 (AMS 20, Register to Correspondence 1889-1926, Australian Museum Archives, Sydney).See SMH, 17 July 1895, p. 7: ‘Mr. J. Fitzgerald, a Tasmanian miner and botanist, has been engaged by the Governor of New Guinea to explore the interior of that island for natural history specimens. Mr. Fitzgerald is highly recommended by Baron von Mueller.’
2
See R. Etheridge to M, 6 May 1895.
3
List not found.
4
See also M to R. Etheridge, 14 December 1895.

Please cite as “FVM-95-12-12,” 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 27 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/95-12-12