^n 



THE IBIS 



EIGHTH SERIES 



No. I. JANUARY 1901. 



I. — On a Specimen of the Extinct Dromseus ater discovered 

 in the Rorjal Zoological Museum, Florence. By Henry 

 H. GiGLioLi, H.M.B.O.U., F.M.Z.S., Director of the 

 Museum. 



About the 9th or the 10th of April, 1802, a French 

 exploring expedition, consisting ol the sliips ' Geographe/ 

 ' Naturaliste/ and ' Casuariua/ under the orders of Baudin, 

 to which also were attached the well-known naturalist 

 F. Peron and tlie able draughtsman Lesueur, sailed along the 

 south coast of New Holland and discovered a large island, 

 which they named '' Isle Decres/^ It lies across the two 

 deep indentations of the mainland now known as Encounter 

 and St. Vincent Gulfs, opposite the mouth of the Murray 

 River, and facing that fertile portion of the flourishing 

 Colony of South Australia where the city of Adelaide now 

 stands ; then : 



" Stei-ilis profiiiidi vastitas squalet soli, 

 Et fceda tellus torpet feterno situ." — Seneca. 



This island is now well known under the name of 

 Kangaroo Island, an appellation bestowed on it by Captain 

 Flinders, who discovered it a few months before the arrival 

 of Bandings expedition. On their first visit to the island 

 the French explorers suffered from bad weather, hunger, 

 and scurvy, and were unable to complete their exploration 

 being compelled to leave to get fresh provisions. 



SER. VIII. — VOL. I. B 



