APRIL 27. 1850.] 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
411 
from Du Quesne, who copied it from Flacourt, 
turns out to be inaccurate. On referring to Fla- 
court’s Histoire de la Grande Isle Madagascar, 
Ato., Paris, 1658, p. 344., where the original figure 
of this monument is given, I find that the stone 
was not found in Bourbon at all, but in “1’ Islet des 
Portugais,” a small island at the mouth of the river 
Fanshere (see Flacourt, p. 32.), near the 8. E. 
extremity of Madagascar. From this place Fla- 
court removed it to the neighbouring settlement 
of Fort Dauphin in 1653, and engraved the arms 
of France on the opposite side to those of Por- 
tugal. We are therefore still without any histo- 
rical record of the first discovery of Bourbon and 
Mauritius, though, from the unanimous consent of 
later compilers, we may fairly presume that the 
Portuguese were the discoverers. 
The references which Mr. Singer has given to 
two works which mention the Oiseau bleu of Bour- 
bon, are very important, as the only other known 
autority for this extinct bird is the MS. Journal | : 
7 | pure gold or silver; and this allay was that which gave 
of Sieur D.B., which thus receives full confirma- 
tion. May I ask Mr. Singer whether either of 
these writers mentions the Solitaire as inhabiting 
Bourbon ? 
The “Oiseaux appelez Flamands” quoted by 
Mr. §,, are merely Flamingos, and are devoid of 
interest as regards the present question. 
The history of the Dodo’s head at Copenhagen, 
referred to by Mr. Singer, is fully recorded in the 
Dodo and its Kindred, pp. 25, 33. 
The name Dodo seems to have been first applied 
to the bird by Sir Thomas Herbert, in 1634, who 
adds, in his edition of 1638, ‘a Portuguese name 
it is, and has reference to her simpleness.” Before 
that time the Dutch were in the habit of ealling 
it Dodars, Dodaers, Toters, and Dronte. I had 
already made the same guesses at the etymology 
of these words as those which Mr. Singer has sug- 
gested but not feeling fully satisfied with them, 
put forth my Query VII. for the chance of obtain- 
ing some further elucidation. 
Mr. Singer’s reasonings on the improbability of 
Tradescant’s specimen of the Dodo having been a 
fabrication are superfluous, seeing that the head 
and foot of this individual are, as is well known, 
still in existence, and form the subjects of six plates 
in the Dodo and its Kindred. 
In regard to my Query IX. as to the local habi- 
tation of the family of Dronte, who bore a Dodo 
on their shield, it has been suggested to me by the 
Rey. Richard Hooper, (who first drew my atten- 
tion to this armorial bearing,) that the family 
was probably foreign to Britain. It appears that 
there was a family named Dodo, in Friesland, a 
member of which (Augustin Dodo, deceased in 
1501, ) was the first editor of St. Augustine’s works. 
Mr. Hooper eee that possibly this family may 
have subsequent. ee the Dodo as their arms, 
and that Randle Holme may, by a natural mistake, 
have changed the name of the family, in his Aca- 
demy of Armory, from Dodo to the synonymous 
word Dronte. Can none of your genealogical 
readers clear up this point ? 
H. E. Srrickianp. 
DERIVATION OF “STERLING” AND “ PENNY.” 
Your correspondent suggests (No. 24. p. 384.) 
an ingenious derivation for the word Sterling ; but 
one which perhaps he has been too ready to adopt, 
inasmuch as it helped his other derivation of peny, 
from pecunia or pecus. I quote the following from 
A short Treatise touching Sheriffs Accompts, by 
Sir Matthew Hale: London, 1683 :— 
“ Concerning the second, viz. the matter or species 
whereof the current coin of this kingdom hath been 
made, it is gold or silver, but not altogether pure, but 
with an allay of copper, at least from the time of 
| King H. I. and H. IL., though possibly in ancienter 
times the species whereof the coin was made might be 
the denomination of Sterling to that coin, viz. Sterling 
Gold, or Sterling Silver. Wherein there will be in- 
quirable, — 
“1, Whence that denomination came? 
“ 9, How ancient that denomination was ? 
“ 3, What was the allay that gave silver that de- 
nomination ? 
“ For the former of these there are various conjec- 
tures, and nothing of certainty. 
“ Spelman supposeth it to take that denomination 
from the Esterlings, who, as he supposeth, came over 
and reformed our coin to that allay. Of this opinion 
was Camden. A Germanis, quos Angli Esterlings, ub 
orientali situ, vocarunt, facta est appellatio; quos Johannes 
Rex, ad argentum in suam puritatem rediyendam, primus 
evocavit: et ejus modi nummi Esterlingi, in antiquis 
scripturis semper reperiuntur, Some suppose that it 
might be taken up from the Starre Judeorum, who, being 
the great brokers for money, accepted and allowed 
money of that allay for current payment of their stars 
or obligations; others from the impression of a ster- 
ling, or of an asterisk upon the coin. Pur ceo que le 
form d'un Stare, dont le diminutive est Sterling, fuit im- 
pressit on stamp sur ceo. Auters pur ceo que le primer 
de cest Standard fuit coyn en le Castle de Sterlin in 
Scotland pur le Roy Edw. I. And possibly as the 
proper name of the fourth part of a Peny was called a 
Farthing, ordinarily a Ferling; so in truth the proper 
name of a Peny in those times was called a Sterling, 
without any other reason of it than the use of the times 
and arbitrary imposition, as other names usually grow. 
For the old Act of 5! H. III., called Compositio 
Mensurarum, tells us that Denarius Anglice Sterlingus 
dicitur ; and because this was the root of the measure, 
especially of Silver Coin, therefore all our Coin of the 
same allay was also called Sterling, as five Shillings 
Sterling, five Pounds Sterling. 
“When this name of Sterling came first in is un- 
certain, only we are certain it was a denomination in 
use in the time of H. III. or Ed. I. and after ages. 
But it was not in use at the time of the compiling of 
