^°'' Y^-l Scott, Forgotten Feathers. 2^ 



1906 J ' * -'O 



bigger than Larks ; some no bigger than Wrens ; all singing 

 with great variety of fine, shrill notes ; and we saw some of their 

 nests with young ones in them. The water-fowls are Ducks 

 (which had young ones now, this being the beginning of the spring 

 in these parts), Curlews, Galdens, Crab-catchers, Cormorants, 

 Gulls, Pelicans, and some water-fowl such as I have not seen 

 anywhere besides." 



What he means by Galdens I cannot discover. The word is 

 not included in Dr. Murray's great " Oxford Dictionary," neither 

 is it mentioned in Newton's " Dictionary of Birds." It is not, 

 apparently, a form of Gannet, nor can I suppose it to be 

 Dampier's way of spelling Guillemot. I cannot find the word 

 in other voyages which I have consulted, and must confess 

 myself completely puzzled by it. 



The water-fowl, " such as I have not seen anywhere besides," 

 can scarcely have been Penguins. 



No other birds were seen while in Sharks' Bay, but Dampier 

 was at that time vexed with anxieties on the score of water for 

 his ship. We can hardly wonder that he should write : — " If it 

 were not for that sort of pleasure which results from the 

 discovery even of the barrenest spot upon this globe, this coast of 

 New Holland would not have charmed me much." We cannot 

 but regret that Dampier did not strike the coast about one 

 hundred miles further south. He might then have entered the 

 noble Swan River. His impressions would have been very 

 much more favourable, and from his reports the settlement of 

 Australia might have been forwarded by an extra century of 

 endeavour. He would also have seen more birds, including the 

 magnificent Black Swan. 



After leaving Sharks' Bay the Roebuck sailed north to Timor. 

 Some days later the group of islands now known as the Dampier 

 Archipelago was sighted. Still there was no water, and Dampier 

 confesses that everything about New Holland disgusted him. 

 But on this part of the voyage some Boobies and Noddies were 

 shot. Booby is a name given by English sailors to the Gannet 

 in very early voyages. As early as 1634 I find Sir Thomas 

 Herbert writing in his travels : — " One of the sailors espying a 

 bird, fitly called a Booby, he mounted to the topmast and took 

 her." Some Noddies breed on islands off the Western Aus- 

 tralian coast. One night a Noddy was caught on board 

 Dampier's ship. " It was of another shape and colour than any I 

 had seen before. It had a small, long bill, as all of them have ; 

 flat feet like Ducks' feet ; its tail forked like a Swallow, but 

 longer and broader, and the fork deeper than that of the Swallow, 

 with very long wings ; the top and crown of the head of this 

 Noddy were coal-black, having very small black streaks round 

 about and close to the eyes ; and round these streaks on each 

 side a pretty broad, wide circle. The breast, belly, and under 



