50 HISTORICAL EVIDENCES [Parr I. 
One more allusion to Solitaires occurs in a sentimental and rather long-winded address, 
which Leguat makes to the island of Rodriguez on taking his final departure :— 
“My Mouth confesses from the abundance of my Heart 
That my Soul is touched with Sorrow, 
Now I am about to leave thy wholesom Air, 
Thy good Palm Wine, thy excellent Melons, 
Thy Solitaries, thy Lamentines, 
Thy Hills always verdant, 
The clear Water of thy Rivers, 
Thy fruitful and smiling Sun, 
And all thy innocent and rare Delights,” &e., &e.—-p. 116. 
Our only authentic historical evidence respecting the Solitaire is at present confined to 
Leguat’s very circumstantial, though unsupported, testimony. One small item of evidence 
may indeed be gleaned from Herbert, who sailed past Rodriguez in 1627, but without landing 
on it, and remarks in his Travels, edition of 1638, p. 341 :— 
“ Digarroys{i.e. Rodriguez]... . . an ile so desolate ; desolate, | mean, in humane 
inhabitants ; other things ’tis uberous in, as wood (choyce and store), Tortoises, Dodos, and 
other Fowle rare and serviceable.” And again, p. 347, speaking of Mauritius :—“ Here, and 
in Dygarrois (and nowhere else that ever I could see or heare of) is generated the Dodo,” &c. 
This shows that the existence of an apterous bird in Rodriguez was known in his time, 
though it was erroneously identified with the Dodo. 
Though Rodriguez is a British colony, yet scarcely any information has been published 
respecting it beyond what Leguat has given us. The island is, however, inhabited by a few 
colonists, one of whom assured Mr. Telfair that no bird of the kind was now known there 
(Proc. Z. S. part 1. p.31). The same negative result was obtained by Edward Higgin, Esq., 
of Liverpool, who recently suffered shipwreck on this island, and resided there for two months. 
This gentleman has obligingly favoured me with some MS. notes on Leguat’s book, together 
with other information, which fully establishes the general accuracy of Leguat, though some 
allowance must be made for that author not having been a naturalist, and for his work having 
probably been in part written from memory. To Mr. Higgin I am also indebted for the 
annexed graphic sketch of the scenery of Rodriguez. From the map which Leguat has given 
of the island, it is evident that the Port of Mathurin, here exhibited, was the site of his 
settlement, of which we have a view in plate IV. 
We cannot, therefore, now hope to procure any living Solitaires, though it would no 
doubt be perfectly practicable to obtain every part of the skeleton of this bird from the 
caverns or alluvial deposits of Rodriguez. 
If we had no other data than the description and figure of Leguat, we might perhaps 
refer the Solitaire to the Struthionide rather than to the Dodo. The legs and neck appear to 
have been longer, the beak shorter, and the wings, though useless for flight, somewhat more 
developed than in Didus. The short, arched beak, and the defensive structure of the wings, 
