Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria |
Born 23 April 1851 in Faberg, Norway; died 5 May 1922 of tuberculosis in Saranac Lake, New York, USA.
The Norwegian theologian, naturalist,
anthropologist and explorer Carl Lumholtz spent only
four years in Queensland from 1880.
First based at
Gracemere, he travelled in western Queensland, then to
the Valley of Lagoons and finally to the Herbert River
area of northern Queensland where he spent long
periods travelling, camping and hunting with the
Aborigines, in many cases with groups previously
untouched by white people.
He collected four new species of mammal including Dendrolagus lumholtzii, a Tree Kangaroo, and Pseudocheiris herbertensis, the — Herbert River Ringtail Possum. His account of his travels, Among Cannibals, contains detailed observations of Aboriginal life. Later he became important as an anthropologist in Mexico and Arizona, then as explorer, naturalist and anthropologist in two years’ travel in Borneo. The Lumholtz National Park in the Herbert River area, including Wallaman Falls; it is a fitting memorial to him.
LUMHOLTZ, C. (1889) Among Cannibals. J. Murray, London. (Republished Australia 1980, Caliban Books)
Source: Extracted from: J.W. CRIBB, The Queensland Naturalist, Vol.44, Nos.1-3, 2006
Portrait Photo: from Wikipedia