438 Mi'sceUuneous. 



It takes up in succession tlio solitaire nnd the birds I made known 

 under the names of Eri/throviachns Lerjiuxti, Ardea me(jacepJuiIa, 

 Athene murlvora, and yecroj)sittacii^ rO(fe)-icauHS*. The 'Relation' 

 shows distinctly tliat the ornithic fauna of the island did not undergo 

 any notable modification during the first part of the 18th century, 

 since the species mentioned by Leguat were still existing in 1 730 ; 

 while we know that in 17()1, when the astronomer I'ingre staid 

 there, the solitaires had become so rare that Pingre speaks of them 

 only from hearsay, having never observed them himself. It gives 

 no indication about the other land-birds. Wc have therefore reason 

 to think that extinction of these species, commenced probably at the 

 time of Leguat's stay, proceeded with ever increasing rapidity, and 

 must have reached its maximum between 1730 and 17(!0. The 

 documents collected at the Ministere de la Marine leave but little 

 doubt on the subject ; and, thanks to them, we can not only, so to 

 speak, be present at the destruction of one group of animals which 

 was formerly extremely abundant at Rodriguez (I mean the land- 

 tortoises), but also well account for their disappearance. The causes 

 which brought about their extinction arc, according to all proba- 

 bility, those which annihilated the birds. 



In the reports addressed to the Comi)agnie des Indes, preserved 

 in the archives of the Ministere de la Marine, we see that the island 

 of Rodriguez was regarded as a sort of provisioning-store, not only 

 for the Isle of France and the island of Bourbon, but also for the 

 ships frequenting those parts. They came there regularly for tor- 

 toises. Already, in 1726 or 17^27, M. Lenoir, during his visit to 

 the Isle of France, wrote to the council of the Company : — 



" Vessels going to and returning from India must not be suffered 

 to go and carry off without discretion the land-tortoises from the 

 neighbouring islets ; and the captains must be forbidden to send 

 their boats to take them without apprising the commandant of the 

 island of the fact, and of the number thej- intend to take away "f. 



Butcher's meat was often deficient at the Isle of France ; and we 

 find that a regular provisiouing-service was gradually organized at 

 Rodriguez. The various governors frequently sent ships, which 

 returned loaded with tortoises, and had no other destination. In 

 1737 M. de la Bourdonnais ordered some expeditions of this kind; 

 but he did not keep an exact account of them, and we cannot judge 

 of their importance. On the other hand, M. Desforge-Boucher, in his 

 reports addressed to the Company in 1759 and 1760, enumerates 

 not only the ships he employed on this service, but also the number 

 of tortoises collected and brought away by each of them. Four 

 small vessels, ' la Mignonne,' ' I'Oiseau,' 'leVoUant,' and 'la Pe- 

 nelope,' were at that time appropriated almost exclusively to this 

 traffic ; and an officer resided at Rodriguez to superintend them. I 

 have not space to quote the extracts from the journal of Governor 

 Desforge-Boucher where he speaks of these expeditions ; it will suf- 



* The portions of the ' Relation ' which refer to natural history will 

 be publisned in the ' Annales des Sciences NaturoUes.' 



t MS. documents collected under the title of " Code de I'ile de France,' 

 lo.OO to 17G8 (Archives de la Marine). 



