THE DODO 



{did us INEPTUS) 



A LTHOUGH the precise year in which the 

 ^ island home of the Dodo was discovered is 

 unknown, there can be no doubt that the earliest 

 mention of the bird is contained in an account 

 of the voyage of the Dutch Admiral Van Neck 

 to Mauritius in 1598, published a year or so 

 afterwards. De Bry, the chronicler of this 

 voyage, alludes to the Dodos which were met 

 with on the island, and, so far as we know, seen 

 for the first time by man, as birds " bigger than 

 our Swans, with large heads, half of which is 

 covered with skin like a hood. These birds 

 want wings, in place of which are three or four 

 blackish feathers. The tail consists of a few 

 slender curved feathers of a grey colour." These 

 Dutch pioneers christened the Dodos Walckvogel — 

 disgusting or nauseous birds — on account of their 

 poor gastronomic qualities, only the breast being 



