xlviii INTRODUCTION. 



the loss sustained by the world through the total 

 destruction and extinction of original fauna and 

 flora in various countries throughout the world. 



In Mauritius a Society of Natural History had 

 been formed by Mr. Telfair, Dr. Lyall, and Professor 

 Bojer, on the foundation of an older Societe d'Emu- 

 lation, when Sir Charles Colville was Governor 

 in 1829. In the following year, the secretary of 

 this Society, M. Desjardins, obtained certain bones 

 encrusted with stalagmite, which had been found 

 many years before (about 1789) in one of the caves of 

 Kodriguez ; and this find appears to have induced 

 Mr. Telfair to urge Colonel Dawkins and M. Eudes, 

 who were then at Pvodriguez, to make further search 

 for the bones of Didine birds. M. Eudes succeeded 

 in digging up in the large cavern various bones, in- 

 cluding some of a large kind of bird which no longer 

 existed in the island. A bird of so large a size as 

 that indicated by the bones had never been seen in 

 the island by M, Gory, who had resided there for 

 the last forty years, i.e., since 1790. It may be 

 here remarked that Pingre had remarked with 

 regard to the Solitaire, in 1761, that M. de Puvigne 

 had assured him that these birds were not even then 

 totally extinct, but that they had become extremely 

 rare, and were only to be found in the most inacces- 

 sible parts of the island.^ It would therefore be 



1 " Les solitaires etoient communes a Rodrigue du temps de 

 Fran9oi3 Leguat. M. de. Puvigne m'a assure que la race ii'en etoit 

 pas encore detruite, mais ils se sent retires dans les endroits de 

 risle les plusinaccessibles." (Pingre, Journal, MS., fol. 178.) 



