262 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
[No. 17. 
human history than to pure zoology, and I there- 
fore hope that a few Queries relating to this 
curious subject will be admissible into your pub- 
lication. I have already, in the work entitled 
The Dodo and its Kindred, and in the Supple- 
mentary Notices inserted last year in the Annals 
and Magazine of Natural History (ser. 2. vol. 
il. pp. 136. 259; vol. iv. p. 335.), endeavoured 
to collect together the omne scitum of the Dodo- 
history, but I am satisfied that the omne scibile 
is not yet attained. 
Query I,—Is there any historical record of the 
first discovery of Mauritius and Bourbon by the 
Portuguese? These islands bore the name of 
Mascureuhas as early as 1598, when they were 
so indicated on one of De Bry’s maps. Subse- 
quent compilers state that they were thus named 
after their Portuguese discoverer, but I have not 
succeeded in finding any notice of them in the 
histories of Portuguese expeditions to the East 
Indies which I have consulted. The only appa- 
rently authentic indication of their discovery, that 
I am aware of, is the pillar bearing the name of 
John III. of Portugal, and dated 1545, which is 
stated by Leguat, on Du Quesne’s authority, to 
have been found in Bourbon by Flacour, when he 
took possession of the island in 1653. 
Query II.—It appears from Leguat’s New 
Voyage to the East Indies, London, 1708, pp. 
2, 37., that the Marquis Du Quesne, being de- 
sirous of sending out a colony from Holland to 
the Isle of Bourbon in 1689 or 1690, published 
(probably in Dutch) an account of that island, 
with a view of inducing emigrants to go thither. 
I should be greatly obliged if any of your readers 
can tell me the title, date, and place of publication 
of this book, and where a copy of it is to be seen 
or procured. 
Query III,—Are there in existence any original 
oil-paintings of the Dodo by Savery or any other 
artist, besides the five described in the Dodo and 
its Kindred —viz., the one at the Hague, at 
Berlin, at Vienna, at the British Museum, and 
at Oxford? And are there any original engray- 
ings of this bird, besides that in De Bry, in 
Clusius, in Van den Broecke, in Herbert, in Bon- 
tekoe, and in Bontius, of all which I have pub- 
lished fac-similes ? 
Query IV.— Are there any original authors 
who mention the Dodo as a living bird, besides 
Van Neck, Clusinus, Heemskerk, Willem van 
West-Zanen, Matelief, Van der Hagen, Verhuffen, 
Van den Broecke, Bontekoe, Herbert, Cauche, 
Lestrange, and Benjamin Harry? Or any au- 
thority for the Solitaire of Rodriguez besides 
Leguat and D’Heguerty; or for the Dodo-like 
birds of Bourbon besides Castleton, Carré, Sieur 
D. B., and Billiard ? 
Query V.—In Rees’ Cyclopedia, article Bour- 
BON, we are told that in that island there is “a 
kind of large bat, denominated [Oiseau bleu, 
which are skinned and eaten as a great delicacy.” 
Where did the compiler of the article pick up 
this statement ? 
Query VI.—Is there in existence any figure, 
published or unpublished, of the Dodo-like bird 
which once inhabited the Isle of Bourbon ? 
Query VII.— What is the derivation or mean- 
ing of the words Dodaers and Dronte, as applied 
to the Dodo ? 
Query VIII.—Sir Hamon Lestrange has re- 
corded that about 1638 he saw a living Dodo 
exhibited in London. (See Sloane MSS. 1839, v. 
p- 9. in Brit. Mus. ; Wilkin’s ed. of Sir 7. Brown’s 
Works, vol. i. p. 369. ; vol. ii. p. 173.; The Dodo 
and its Kindred, p. 22.) Is there any cotemporary 
notice extant in print or in MS. which confirms 
this statement? A splendidly bound copy of 
The Dodo and its Kindred will be given to any 
one who can answer this query affirmatively. 
Query IX.—In Holme’s Academy of Armory 
and Blazon, Chester, 1688, p. 289, we find a Dodo 
figured as an heraldic device, a fac-simile of which 
is given in the Annals of Natural History, 2nd 
series, vol. iii. p. 260. The author thus describes 
it: “ He beareth Sable a Dodo, or Dronte proper. 
By the name of Dronte. This exotic bird doth 
equal a swan in bigness,” &c. &e. Now I wish to 
ask, where did this family of Dronte reside? Is 
anything known concerning them? How did they 
come by these arms? and are any members of the 
family now living ? ' 
Query X.— From a passage in the Histoire 
de [ Académie Royale des Sciences, 1776, p. 37, 
it appears that Pingré, the French astronomer, 
published, or at least wrote, a relation of his 
voyage to Rodriguez, in which he speaks of Soli- 
taires. Is this the fact? and if so, what is the title 
of his work ? H. E. Srricxianp. 
ON PASSAGES IN COLERIDGE’S CHRISTABEL AND 
BYRON’S LARA. TABLET TO NAPOLEON. 
Tam one of those who look upon the creations 
of our great poets as deserving illustration almost 
as much as actual history ; and I am always dis- 
tressed when I meet with passages representing 
events with respect to which I cannot make up | 
my mind as to what the author meant, or intended |) 
his readers to believe. ‘Two of these occur to me || 
at this moment, and I shall be much obliged by |) 
any of your correspondents giving, in your pages, | 
brief replies to my queries, or referring me to any | 
published works where I may find their solution. | 
1, What did Coleridge really mean to represent — 
or imply in his tale of Christabel? Who or what | 
was Geraldine ? What did Christabel see in her, | 
at times, so unutterably horrible? What is meant | 
by “the ladye strange” making Christabel carry | 
her over the sill of the portal ? &e., &e. 
SS = 
