13 NOETH AUSTKALIAN EXPLOKTNG EXPEDITION 



under the command of Mr, Gregory, accompanied by his brother and 

 by Messrs. Baines, Wilson, Mueller, Elsey, Hood, and fourteen men, 

 with fifty horses, two hundred sheep, and provisions and stores for two 

 years. Sir R. Murchison explained the projected course of this Expe- 

 dition from Moreton Bay, by sea, to the mouth of the Victoria Eiver, 

 on the north-west coast. It was intended to ascend that river to its 

 source, and determine the boundaries of the drainage towards the north 

 coast to the interior. The Expedition, passing eastward, would pro- 

 bably skirt the northern limits of Start's Central Desert, and reach 

 the head-waters of the rivers flowing into the Gulf of Carpentaria : 

 thence it was hoped that it would be in a condition to penetrate, 

 southwards, to the great head of the Bareo Eiver, which was the north- 

 ernmost point reached by Sir T, Mitchell and Mr. Kennedy, on their 

 journeys from Sydney towards the Gulf of Carpentaria. These opera- 

 tions would greatly enlarge our knowledge of Northern Australia, and 

 open up communication between it and the Southern Colonies. 



Our first notice of the appointment of Dr. Mueller was from him- 

 self, as will be seen from the following extract of his letter to us, dated 

 "Sydney, 12th July, 1855." 



" This mil probably be the last letter which I shall have the honour 

 of addressing to you for a long time, since I have now definitely ac- 

 cepted the appointment of Botanist for the North Australian Expedi- 

 tion. I have accepted this appointment reluctantly, and only after 

 his Excellency the Governor-General had expressed his opinion, that 

 through your influence I might be permitted to retain a set of speci- 

 mens to be formed during the Expedition, in order that I might de- 

 scnbe what we may be able to add to botanical science. I sincerely 

 trust that you, Sii" William, will not let me pray in vain; for when I 

 say that it would have been in my power to discover many hundred new 

 plants in the meanwhile on the borders of the settled districts of Aus- 

 tralia, without engaging in an expedition of such eminent dangers and 

 privations, and that my fixed appointment in Victoria will probably 

 render it difficult for me to visit England for the purpose of describing 

 my collections, then I think you will agree with me in viewing my re- 

 quest as a just one ; and I feel convinced, from former kindness which 

 I experienced from you, that you would not wish I should sink to the 

 position of a mere collector. 



''I am so multifariously occupied with arrangements, that I can 



