TLM-P struck up a friendship with the brilliant Prussian naturalist, scientist and explorer,Ludwig Leichhardt. Leichhardt was six years older than TLM-P, and arrived in Sydney three years later, in 1842. In September that year he visited Dalwood property where TLM-P was working, and in June that year the two travelled together to Moreton Bay.¹⁾

In September 1843, TLM-P wrote to Leichhardt from Limestone Station at Ipswich²⁾ The legible parts of the letter reveal that the two men had both, as TLM-P wrote, been great travellers. TLM-P had been in Sydney the previous week and was now 'on the Logan River' and planning to sell his current property to go into partnership in another property with a friend Aikman. TLM-P referred to travelling with Leichhardt, asking him if he 'would like again to be “Compagnons de voyage” (travelling companion)'. Leichhardt had a divisive personality, with people tending to either warmly admire or, equally warmly, dislike him.³⁾ He was firmly allied with the squatters, as they could sponsor him when he explored the country in return for information about desirable country to settle.⁴⁾ TLM-P was firmly in the former category, referring to him in his letter as his 'chere amie' (dear friend) and sending news of mutual friends, including Anne,'a very nice girl'. Perhaps it helped that TLM-P could converse easily in French, though there is no indication that he knew Leichhardt's mother tongue.