Melbourne - Has been going through [A. W.] Howitt's letters but doesn't think his notes are ready for publication as he still had research to do, and was working to show that exogamy was the rule, which he doesn't think needs proving again, despite R. H. Matthews' [recte Mathews] papers to the contrary; Matthews has been in communication with miners and cattle people in Central Australia who have a profound contempt for the natives and are unreliable sources of information. The letter continues, dated Sept. 29. He has received the letter Frazer wrote Miss Howitt about the inadvisability of reprinting Howitt's old papers, and he agrees; is interested to hear he is leaving Liverpool for Cambridge, remembers a longing he had at first to be back amongst old places, given he was in a modern town where nothing dated back more than fifty years; has been too busy for anthropological work but hopes to try Western Australia, as Central Australia and the Macdonnel Ranges are now 'spoilt'; Strehlow's papers are to be published, edited by [Moritz] von Leonhardi, 'a very uneducated man'; [Andrew] Lang has endeavored in van to draw him, and Matthews is now exploting his and [Francis] Gilllen's field as he had Howitt's; misses Howitt, as he has no one to discuss anthropologic matters with, as Gillen only comes over once every two years.
Melbourne - A long 12 page letter: has been extremely busy at the University of Melbourne, recasting courses of study and instituting new ones, and arranging the Jubilee; describes a holiday on the Tasman glacier in New Zealand; [A. W.] Howitt is much exercised by [Andrew] Lang's publications and thinks him 'entirely unreliable and unscrupulous' in handling evidence; has looked at Howitt's papers and stands by what he sent to Frazer; thinks that Lang put [N. W.] Thomas in touch with [Carl] Strehlow the missionary so that he would quote him as a source, which he had not done, disapproves of Strehlow's use of 'altjira' for 'god'; will ignore for now the article by Lang in the [Journal of the Anthropological Institute] seems to be an attack on Spencer's address on totemism; discusses the ignorance of the cause of pregancy as noted in Frazer's articles in 'Fortnightly' ['The Beginnings of Religion and Totemism among the Australian Aborigines'?], pointing out that the 'savage' is a most logically minded individual and that it is natural to think that as not all sexual intercourse results in pregnancy, that they are not related matters; disagrees entirely with Lang's statement that encountering a group made up solely of women and children would astonish 'Australian savages'; Lang appears to especially dislike his and [Francis] Gillen's work; discusses Frazer's theory of conceptional totemism, and agrees with him that exogamy forms no part of totemism; wishes it were possible to call back to life extinct tribes and begin the study of them anew, 'the incompetent observer, such as [Samuel] Gason, does anthropology much harm'.
Melbourne. Dated Sept. 25, 29, 1908 - Has been going through [A. W.] Howitt's letters but doesn't think his notes are ready for publication as he still had research to do, and was working to show that exogamy was the rule, which he doesn't think needs proving again, despite R. H. Matthews' [recte Mathews] papers to the contrary; Matthews has been in communication with miners and cattle people in Central Australia who have a profound contempt for the natives and are unreliable sources of information. The letter continues, dated Sept. 29. He has received the letter Frazer wrote Miss Howitt about the inadvisability of reprinting Howitt's old papers, and he agrees; is interested to hear he is leaving Liverpool for Cambridge, remembers a longing he had at first to be back amongst old places, given he was in a modern town where nothing dated back more than fifty years; has been too busy for anthropological work but hopes to try Western Australia, as Central Australia and the Macdonnel Ranges are now 'spoilt'; Strehlow's papers are to be published, edited by [Moritz] von Leonhardi, 'a very uneducated man'; [Andrew] Lang has endeavored in van to draw him, and Matthews is now exploting his and [Francis] Gilllen's field as he had Howitt's; misses Howitt, as he has no one to discuss anthropologic matters with, as Gillen only comes over once every two years.
Melbourne. Dated June 29, 1906 - A long 12 page letter: has been extremely busy at the University of Melbourne, recasting courses of study and instituting new ones, and arranging the Jubilee; describes a holiday on the Tasman glacier in New Zealand; [A. W.] Howitt is much exercised by [Andrew] Lang's publications and thinks him 'entirely unreliable and unscrupulous' in handling evidence; has looked at Howitt's papers and stands by what he sent to Frazer; thinks that Lang put [N. W.] Thomas in touch with [Carl] Strehlow the missionary so that he would quote him as a source, which he had not done, disapproves of Strehlow's use of 'altjira' for 'god'; will ignore for now the article by Lang in the [Journal of the Anthropological Institute] seems to be an attack on Spencer's address on totemism; discusses the ignorance of the cause of pregancy as noted in Frazer's articles in 'Fortnightly' ['The Beginnings of Religion and Totemism among the Australian Aborigines'?], pointing out that the 'savage' is a most logically minded individual and that it is natural to think that as not all sexual intercourse results in pregnancy, that they are not related matters; disagrees entirely with Lang's statement that encountering a group made up solely of women and children would astonish 'Australian savages'; Lang appears to especially dislike his and [Francis] Gillen's work; discusses Frazer's theory of conceptional totemism, and agrees with him that exogamy forms no part of totemism; wishes it were possible to call back to life extinct tribes and begin the study of them anew, 'the incompetent observer, such as [Samuel] Gason, does anthropology much harm'.