79 



September 22, 1846. 



William Yarrell, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. 



John Gould, Esq., laid before the meeting the fo]lowing letter, 

 detailing the circumstances of the death of Mr. Johu Gilbert, who 

 formerly had been many years in the employment of the Society. 

 He fell in the service of zoological science during an expedition into 

 the interior of Australia. 



" Sydney, May 12, 1846. 

 "Dear Sir,— As I was one of the party that journeyed from Syd- 

 ney to Port Essington, and not knowing \vhether you had been mude 

 acąuainted with the full particulars of poor Gilbert's death by Dr. 

 Leichhardt, or any other of the party, thinking the details of bis 

 melancholy fate would be read -vvith interest, I shall ofFer no apology 

 for addressing this to you. 



" As Mr. Gilbert's log, -vvhich has been sent home to you, fully 

 narrates all particulars up to the eventful 28th of June, I shall offer 

 no remarks of my own. At the most northerly point we reached on 

 the east side of the Gulf of Carpentaria, in lat. 15° 57', and about 

 fifty miles from the coast, we encamped for the nigbt at a small shal- 

 low lagoon surrounded by lo\v tea-trees, the country around beauti- 

 fully open. Having partaken of our usual meal of dried meat about 

 3 P.M., Gilbert, taking his gun, sallied forth in search of something 

 new — he procured aClimacteris and a Finch, which he skinned before 

 dinner; our scanty meal was soon despatched; poor Gilbert was 

 busily employed plaiting the cabbage-tree, intending to make a new 

 hat, which, alas ! he never lived to finish. The shades of evening 

 closed around, and after chatting for a short time -vve retired to our 

 separate tents — Gilbert and Murphy to theirs, Mr. Calvert and my- 

 self to ours, and Phillips to his ; the Doctor and our t\vo black fel- 

 lows slėpt round the fire, entirely unconscious of the evil designs of 

 the natives ; having always found those we had passed so friendly 

 and 'vvell-disposed, we felt in as great security as you do in the midst 

 of London, l)'ing on our blankets, conversing on different topics. 

 Not one, I think, could have closed his eyelids, vvhen I was eur- 

 prised by a noise, as if some persons were throwing sticks at our 

 tent ; thinking it mušt be some trick played on us by our corapa- 

 nions, I sat up to look out ; another volley of spears was thrown ; a 

 terrific yell, that \vill ring in my ears for ever, was raised, and pierced 

 ■vvith spears, which I found it impossible to extricate, I sunk helpless 

 on the ground ; the -svhole body riished upon us \vith their wad(lies, 

 and how it is it that our brains did not bespatter the ground is to 

 me miraculous. These rascals had crept on us under cover of the 

 tea-trees : the tent in which Calvert and I were being first in their 

 road, the whole body attacked us ; poor Gilbert, hearing the noise. 

 No. CLXIII. — Proceedings of the Zoological Society. 



