NOTES ON THE DODO. 31 



de r Admiral Jaques Corneille Neeq, et du Vice- Admiral Wibrant de 

 Warwicq." Published in folio at Amsterdam, by Corneille Nicolas; a copy 

 is preserved in the Radcliffe Library, adorned with curious engravings on wood. 

 Of these, Plate II contains figures of the various productions of the island, 

 amongst which we find a Dodo rudely drawn: the accompanying description 

 of the plate says of this bird that it is '^called by us Walck-vogel, the size 

 of a Swan. The rump is round, covered with two or three curled feathers; 

 they have no wings, but in place of them three or four black feathers...... 



We cooked this bird, which was so tough that we could not boil it sufficiently, 

 but eat it half raw." Well therefore might they call it Walckvogel (dis- 

 gusting bird,) having by them also an ample supply of Turtle-Doves. 



II. — The account of a voyage of Jacob Van Heemskirk, in 1601 : he 

 stayed in the island of Mauritius nearly three months, and mentions Wallich- 

 vogels as found there among other game. 



III. — Willem Van West-Zanen, in 1602, stayed a considerable time at 

 Mauritius, and in his Journal, (published Amsterdam, 1648,) makes repeated 

 mention of Dod-aarsen, called, he says, by others ^Dronten,' And he writes 

 • — "When Jacob Van Neck was here, these birds were called Wallichvogels. 



They have great heads, with hoods thereon; they are without wings or 



tail, and have only little winglets at their sides, and four or five feathers 

 behind more elevated than the rest." Two of them, he says, more than 

 dined the whole crew. 



IV. — Clusius, in his work "Exotica," says that in the year 1605, he saw 

 in the house of Professor Panwins, at Leyden, a Dodo's leg, of which he 

 gives an accurate anatomical description, with measurements. 



V. — Cornelius Matelief, a Dutch Admiral, arrived at Mauritius in 1606, 

 and, after alluding in his journal, to the abundance of birds on the island, 

 he proceeds: — '^'On y trouve encore un certain oiseau, que quelques-uns nom- 

 ment Dodaise, ou Dodaeisen: d'autres lui donnent le nom de Droule. Les 

 premiers qui vinsent er cette isle le nommerent Oiseau de degout," etc. — 

 giving similar description to the one above. 



VI. — Two ships, under the command of Van der Hagen, in 1607, remained 

 some weeks in Mauritius, and the crews feasted on abundance of "tortoises, 

 dodars, pigeons, turtles, etc." 



VII. — P. W. Verhuffen touched at Mauritius in 1611, and mentions Dodos 

 under the name of Totersten. His men killed several, but were obliged to 

 be cautious, on account of their powerful beaks. He describes them in nearly 

 the same terms as Van Neck. 



VIII. — Van der Broecke visited Mauritius, (April 19th. — May 23rd.,) in 

 1617; — in the account of his voyages, is a plate containing the figure of 

 a bird which must be a Dodo. 



IX. — Sir Thomas Herbert, in 1627, visited Mauritius, and found it still 

 uninhabited. In his travels he describes and figures the Dodo: he derives 

 the name from the Portuguese 'doudo,' — stupid; but this wants confirmation. 



VOL. IV. ' F 



