XX INTKODUCTION. 



favour them. The Ilirondelle shortly afterwards 

 sailed for Mauritius, having landed arms, utensils, 

 seeds, and provisions, in addition to the private 

 stock of supplies and necessaries which each colonist 

 had provided for himself 



It is the record of the careful personal and detailed 

 observations, made by Leguat on the then existent 

 fauna and flora of the island, during this period of 

 seclusion from the world, that has rendered the 

 simple story of the Huguenot exile so deeply inte- 

 resting to naturalists of the present day ; and, 

 consequently, in the following notes and appendices 

 which accompany the text of the original transla- 

 tion, the confirmation of Leguat's remarks upon the 

 appearance and habits of the remarkable birds and 

 animals, now altogether extinct, by the late inves- 

 tigations of modern men of science, has been 

 especially dwelt upon ; for the veracity of the main 

 facts recorded in this charming narrative of adven- 

 ture has been fully established in the most notable 

 particulars by eminent authorities in Europe/ 



1 " Telle est I'idee que Leguat nous donne du Solitaire ; il en 

 parle non seulemeut conime teraoin oculaire, raais comme uu obser- 

 vateur qui s'etoit attache particulierement et long-terns a etudier 

 les moeurs et les habitudes de cet oiseau ; et en effet, sa relation, 

 quoique gatee en quelques endroits par des idees fabuleuses,* 

 contient neanmoins plus de details historiques sur le Solitaire que 



* " Par example, an sujet du premier accouplement des jeunes 

 solitaires, oii son imagination prevenuelui a fait voir les formalites 

 d'une espece de mariage ; an suject de la pierre de I'estomac, etc." 

 — As it happens, this so-called fabulous story of the stone has been 

 fully confirmed. 



