In due
course, I received a most cordial reply from the secretary, Mr.
(afterwards Sir) Stephen Walcot, to the effect that Lord Grey, then
Colonial Secretary, highly approved of the project, and that the aid
asked for would be forthcoming for properly qualified German
vinedressers. Armed with this letter, I went to Hamburg with
introductions to Messrs. John Caesar Godeffroy and Son, at that time the
chief shipowners of the city. They were evidently well disposed, and had
been, I think, concerned in the previous out-flow to Adelaide, as they
referred me to Mr. Edward Delius, of Bremen, who had been an agent in
the work. My visit to Delius resulted in my proceeding at once to
Silesia, where I got as far as Liegnitz, whose gilded or tin-covered
minarets reminded me that I was approaching the fanciful or gorgeous
East. Here I met a number of the peasantry, all eager to hear about
Australia, friends of some of them being already there. Hearing that a
Moravian headquarters was also there, I introduced myself, stating that
I was a subject of, and personally acquainted with, their brother
Moravian, Mr. La Trobe, our Superintendent. I found other La Trobes
there, his relatives or namesakes.
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