lxviii Reports of Committees. 



in the list of subscribers my initials only appear. Trusting that you 

 will succeed in your exertions to raise the sum required, 

 " I have the honor to be, 



" Your obedient servant, 



" J; G. WAKE. 

 "David E. Wilkie, Hon. Treasurer, Exploration Fund, 106 Collins 



street, Melbourne." 

 Having thus succeeded in raising the amount of £2,000 within 

 the stipulated period of twelve months, it devolved upon the United 

 Committees to make application, through Sir William F. Stawell, to 

 the unknown donor for the £1,000 he had promised. Accordingly, 

 the following letter was addressed to Sir William, enclosing the 

 following letter for presentation to the unknown donor : — 



[Copy.] 



" Australian Exploration. 



" To the Unknown Donor of £1,000. 



" Sir — We have the honor to announce to. you, through His Honor 



the Chief Justice, Sir William F. Stawell, that your munificent offer 



of £1,000 for Australian exploration has met with a hearty response 



from all classes in Victoria, and that we have succeeded in raising 



by private subscription the stipulated sum of £2,000 within the 



stipulated period of twelve months. 



" In thus announcing to you that we are in a position to claim your 

 munificent gift of £1,000, we pray you, on behalf of every colonist 

 of Victoria, to accept the assurance of our grateful esteem and of our 

 warmest acknowledgments ; and although your name is still withheld 

 from us, we cannot withhold our admiration of your unostentatious 

 patriotism and disinterested zeal in the cause of science. 



" We confidently believe that the valuable assistance which you 

 have rendered to the cause of science and Australian progress will, at 

 no distant period, be rewarded by a wide extension of our geographical 

 knowledge of those vast central regions of Australia which have 

 been hitherto cut off from the civilised world, and still remain un- 

 trodden by the foot of civilised man. And we feel assured that it 

 will ever be to you a source of unmingled satisfaction, that you have 

 so successfully initiated in Victoria a movement in favour of explo- 

 ration, which we are fully justified in believing will be attended with 

 the happiest and most successful results. 



" We have the honor to be, Sir, 



Your most grateful servants, 



"JOHN HODGSON 

 "FEED. MUELLER 

 "JOHN MACADAM 

 " DAVID E. WILKIE. 

 "Melbourne, September 5, 1859." 



