354 
“ The island was uninhabited when the Portuguese, 
after having doubled the Cape of Good Hope, dis- 
covered it. They gave it the name of Mascarhenas, @ 
cause que leur chef se nommoit ainsi; and the vulgar still 
preserve it, calling the inhabitants Mascarins. It was 
not decidedly inhabited until 1654, when M.de Flacour, 
commandant at Madagascar, sent some invalids there to 
recover their health, that others followed; and since 
then it has been named the Isle of Bourbon.” 
Still no notice of the Dodo! but 
“ On y trouve des oiseaux appellez Flamans, qui ex- 
cedent la hauteur d’un grand homme.” 
Qu. 6. I know not whether Mr. S. is aware that 
there is the head of a Dodo in the Royal Museum 
of Natural History at Copenhagen, which came 
from the collection of Paludanus? M. Domeny 
de Rienzi, the compiler of Océanie, ou cinguiéme 
Partie du Globe (1838, t. iii. p. 384.), tells us, that 
a Javanese captain gave him part of a Dronte, 
which he unfortunately lost on being shipwrecked; 
but he forgot where he said he obtained it. 
Qu. 7. Dodo is most probably the name given at 
first to the bird by the Portuguese; Doudo, in 
that language, being a fool or dwmpish stupid per- 
son. And, besides that name, it bore that of 
Télpel in German, which has the same significa- 
tion. The Dod-aers of the Dutch is most pro- 
bably a vulgar epithet of the Dutch sailors, ex- 
pressive of its Zumpish conformation and inac- 
tivity. Our sailors would possibly have substituted 
heayvy-a I find the Dodo was also called the 
Monk-swan of St. Maurice’s Island at the com- 
mencement of last century. The word Dronte is 
apparently neither Portuguese nor Spanish, though 
in Connelly’s Dictionary of the latter language we 
have — 
“ Dronte, cierto paxaro de Indias de alas muy cortas 
—an appellation given by some to the Dodo.” 
It seems to me to be connected with Drone; but 
this can only be ascertained from the period and 
the people by whom it was applied. 
That the bird once existed there can be no 
doubt, from the notice of Sir Hamon L’Estrange, 
which there is no reason for questioning ; and there 
seems to be as little reason to suppose that Trades- 
cant’s stuffed specimen was a fabrication. He used 
to preserve his own specimens; and there could be 
no motive at that period for a fabrication. I had 
hoped to have found some notice of it in the Diary 
of that worthy virtuoso Zacharias Conrad von 
Uffenbach, who visited the Ashmolean Museum in 
1710; but though he notices other natural curi- 
osities, there is no mention of it. This worthy 
remarks on the slovenly condition and inadequate 
superintendence of our museums, and especially 
of that of Gresham College; but those who recol- 
lect the state of our great national museum forty 
years since will not be surprised at this, or at the 
calamitous destruction of Tradescant’s specimen 
of the Dodo. That the bird was extinct above 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
[No. 22. 
150 years ago I think we may conclude from the 
notices I have extracted from La Roque, and the 
letter of the Jesuit Brown. Mr. Strickland has 
done good service to the cause of natural science 
by his monograph of this very curious subject ; 
and to him every particle of information must be 
acceptable: this must be my excuse for the almost 
nothing I have been able to contribute. 
S. W. Sinerr. 
March 26. 1850. 
THE WATCHING OF THE SEPULCHRE, 
Inquired about by “T. W.” (No. 20. p.318.), is 
a liturgical practice, which long was, and still is, 
observed in Holy Week. On Maundy Thursday, 
several particles of the Blessed Eucharist, conse- 
crated at the Mass sung that day, were reserved 
a larger one for the celebrating priest on the 
morrow, Good Friday; the smaller ones for the 
viaticum of the dying, should need be—and car- 
ried in solemn procession all round the church, from 
the high altar to a temporary erection, fitted up 
like a tomb, with lights, and the figure of an 
angel watching by, on the north side of the 
chancel. Therein the Eucharist was kept till 
Easter Sunday morning, according to the Salis- 
bury Ritual; and there were people kneeling and 
praying at this so-called sepulchre all the time, 
both night and day. To take care of the church, 
left open throughout this period, and to look after 
the lights, it was necessary for the sacristan to 
have other men to help him; and what was given 
to them for this service is put down in the church- 
wardens’ books as money for “* watching the sepul- 
chre.” By the Roman Ritual, this ceremony lasts 
only from Maundy Thursday till Good Friday. 
This rite will be duly followed in my own little 
church here at Buckland, where some of my flock, 
two and two, in stated succession, all through the 
night, as well as day, will be watching from just 
after Mass on Maundy Thursday till next morn- 
ing’s service. In some of the large Catholic 
churches in London and the provinces, this cere- 
mony is observed with great splendour. 
Dante Rock. 
Buckland, Farringdon. 
Watching the Sepulchre.—If no one sends a 
more satisfactory reply to the query about 
“Watching the Sepulchre,” the following extract 
from Parker’s Glossary of Architecture (3rd edit. 
p- 197.) will throw some light on the matter :— 
“ In many churches we find a large flat arch in the 
north wall of the chancel near the altar, which was 
called the Holy Sepulchre; and was used at Easter for 
the performance of solemn rites commemorative of the 
resurrection of our Lord. On this occasion there was 
usually a temporary wooden erection over the arch; 
but, occasionally, the whole was of stone, and very 
richly ornamented. There are fine specimens at Na- 
venby and Heckington churches, Lincolnshire, and 
: 
4 
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