Dr. A. W. Howitt, C.M.G.

Abstract

BY the death of Dr. A. W. Howitt, recorded in NATURE of March 12 (p. 443), a link has snapped between the old days of the perilous exploration of Australia and the detailed scientific investigations of the present day. As early as 1858, Mr. Howitt's knowledge of bush-craft was such that a syndicate in Melbourne appointed him head of an expedition to acquire a tract of the “Promised Land” in Central Australia, of the existence of which Warburton had recently confirmed the report of Stuart. In 1860 he conducted a prospecting expedition in Gippsland. The following year he was selected to lead a party in search of the ill-fated Burke and Wills Expedition, of which John King, the last survivor, was rescued; later Mr. Howitt penetrated into the Great Stony Desert. Thus for many years Mr. Howitt had a wide personal acquaintance with the physical characters of southern and south-eastern Australia. On his numerous expeditions and journeys he came into close and friendly contact with the natives, some of whom were in a condition of complete savagery, and, later on, circumstances enabled him to acquire considerable influence over tribes in south-east Australia, so much so that he was even permitted to be present at their sacred ceremonies.