The discovery and speedy extinction of that extraordinary bird the
DODO, belongs rather to {262} human history than to pure zoology, and
I therefore hope that a few Queries relating to this curious subject
will be admissible into your publication. I have already, in the work
entitled _The Dodo and its Kindred_, and in the Supplementary notices
inserted last year in the _Annals and Magazine of Natural History_
(ser. 2. vol. iii. pp. 136, 259; vol. iv. p. 335), endeavoured to
collect together the _omne scitum_ of the Dodo-history, but I am
satisfied that the _omne scibile_ is not yet attained.
_Query I._--Is there any historical record of the first discovery of
Mauritius and Bourbon by the Portuguese? These islands bore the name
of _Mascarenhas_ as early as 1598, when they were so indicated on one
of the De Bry's maps. Subsequent compilers state that they were thus
named after their Portuguese discoverer, but I have not succeeded in
finding any notice of them in the histories of Portuguese expeditions
to the East Indies which I have consulted. The only appartently
authentic indication of their discovery, that I am aware of, is the
pillar bearing the name of John III. of Portugal, and dated 1545,
which is stated by Leguat, on Du Quesne's authority, to have been
found in Bourbon by Flacour, when he took possession of the island
in 1653.
_Query II_.--It appears from Leguat's _New Voyage to the East Indies_,
London, 1708, pp. 2, 37., that the Marquis Du Quesne, being desirous
of sending out a colony from Holland to the Isle of Bourbon in 1689 or
1690, published (probably in Dutch) an account of that Island, with a
view of inducing emigrants to go thither. I should be greatly obliged
if any of your readers can tell me the title, date, and place of
publication of this book, and where a copy of it is to be seen or
procured.
_Query III_.--Are there in existence any original oil-paintings of
the Dodo by Savery or any other artist, besides the five described in
the _Dodo and its Kindred_--viz., the one at the Hague, at Berlin,
at Vienna, at the British Museum, and at Oxford? And are there any
original engravings of this bird, besides that in De Bry, in Clusius,
in Van den Broecke, in Herbert, in Bontekoc, and in Bontius, of all
which I have published fac-similes?
_Query IV_.--Are there any _original_ authors who mention the Dodo
as a living bird, besides Van Neck, Clusius, Heemskerk, Willem van
West-Zanen, Matelief, Van der Hagen, Verhuffen, Van den Broecke,
Bontekoe, Herbert, Cauche, Lestrange, and Benjamin Harry? Or any
authority for the _Solitaire_ of Rodriguez besides Leguat and
D'Heguerty; or for the Dodo-like birds of Bourbon besides Castelton,
Carré Sieur D.B., and Billiard?
_Query V_--In Rees' _Cyclopæia_, article BOURBON, we are told that
in that island there is "a kind of large bat, denominated _l'Oiseau
bleu_, which are skinned and eaten as a great delicacy." Where did the
compiler of the article pick up this statement?
_Query VI_.--Is there in existence any figure, published or
unpublished, of the Dodo-like bird which once inhabited the Isle of
Bourbon?
_Query VII_--What is the derivation or meaning of the words _Dodaers_
and _Dronte_, as applied to the Dodo?
_Query VIII_.--Sir Hamon Lestrange has recorded that about 1638 he
saw a living Dodo exhibited in London. (See _Sloane MSS_. 1839, v. p.
9. in Brit. Mus.; Wilkin's ed. of _Sir T. Browne's Works_, vol. i. p.
369.; vol. ii, p. 173.; _The Dodo and its Kindred_, p. 22.) Is there
any contemporary notice extant in print or in MS. which confirms this
statement? A splendidly bound copy of _The Dodo and its Kindred_ will
be given to any one who can answer this query affirmatively.
_Query IX_.--In Holme's _Academy of Armory and Blazou_, Chester, 1688,
p. 289, we find a Dodo figured as an heraldic device, a fac-simile of
which is given in the _Annals of Natural History_, 2nd series, vol.
iii. p. 260. The author thus describes it: "He beareth Sable a _Dodo_
or _Dronte_ proper. By the name of _Dronte_. This exotic bird doth
equal a swan in bigness," &c. &c. Now I wish to ask, where did this
family of _Dronte_ reside? Is anything known concerning them? How did
they come by these arms? and are any members of the family now living?
_Query X._--From a passage in the _Histoire de l'Académie Royale des
Sciences_, 1776, p. 37, it appears that Pingré the French astronomer,
published, or at least wrote, a relation of his voyage to Rodriguez,
in which he speaks of _Solitaires_. Is this the fact? and if so, what
is the title of his work?