" Mauritius Hen " of Peter Mundy. 317 



India, and proves to us that he was one of the most 

 observant and truthful of all the older travellers. Like 

 Herodotus, he always carefully distinguishes between the 

 things that he himself has seen and those which he has 

 only got on hearsay. 



On his return voyage in March 1633/4 he passed the 

 Island of Mauritius without calling there, but in 1638, when 

 homeward-bound from China, he called at the island and 

 wrote a glowing account of the scenery, salubrity, and 

 natural productions. 



As regards the birds the following is an extract from the 

 MSS., for the use of which I am indebted to Sir Richard 

 Temple and to Miss L. M. Anstey, who is assisting 

 Sir Richard in the transcription of the original. The 

 account of this voyage will form vol. iii. of the whole work 

 and will be published shortly. 



" For Fowl, these following among the rest. 

 ''The Dodo, although we now met with none, yet divers 

 times they are found here, having seen at Surat brought 

 from hence, and as I remember they are as big bodied as 

 great Turkies covered with down, having little hanging 

 wings like short sleeves, although are unuseful to fly withal, 

 or any way with them to help themselves. Whether 

 [? Neither] can they swim, but as other land fowl do, on 

 necessity into the water, being Cloven footed as they are. 



" A Mauritius Hen as [? is a] fowl as big as our English 

 hens of a yellowish Wheaten Colour, of which we got only 

 one. It hath a big, long, crooked, sharp, pointed bill, 

 feathered all over, but on their wings they are so few and 

 small that they cannot with them raise themselves from the 

 Ground. There is a pretty way of taking them with a red 

 cap but this * was struck with a stick. They be very good 

 meat and are also cloven footed so that they can neither fly 

 nor swim more than the former. Of these two sorts of 

 fowl aforementioned, for ought we yet know, not any to be 

 found out of this Island which lieth about 100 Leagues 



* Mundy is apparently referring to his illustration of this bird. 



