338 Mr. H. E. Strickland on the Dodo and its Kindred. 



ness of our views as to the affinities of the Dodo and its kindred 

 than is afforded by Dr. Cabot's brief and unpretending memoir. 

 Prof. Brandt of Petersburg, in a paper published in the ' Ver- 

 handlungen der Russisch-kaiserlichen Mineralogischen Gesell- 

 schaft/ 1848, p. 201, still maintains the affinity of the Dodo to 

 the Plovers, but with this exception I believe that all naturalists 

 who have studied the subject are now disposed to regard the 

 Columbine characters of the Dodo as predominating over all 

 others. 



8. Supposed existence of a gigantic Bird in Madagascar. — I 

 have received, through the kindness of F. R. Surtees, Esq., Her 

 Majesty's Commissioner of Arbitration at the Cape of Good 

 Hope, the following curious statement, which I insert here, as it 

 may have some bearing on the subject of the Dodo or of its 

 kindred. I have already alluded in our published work, p. 60, 

 to the probable existence of some large brevipennate bird in 

 Madagascar, and though it has escaped the search of modern 

 naturalists, yet we have the positive testimony of Flacourt that 

 such a bird was known in the island two centuries ago. It 

 would therefore be unwise summarily to reject a story which, 

 however marvellous, may rest on a substratum of truth, and may 

 lead to the discovery of important and valuable facts. 



It appears from the information collected and communicated 

 by Mr. Surtees, that in Oct. 1848, when H.M.S. Geyser was 

 cruising off St. Augustine's Bay, Madagascar, a French gentle- 

 man named Dumarele, who was a passenger on board, gave the 

 following account, which is extracted from the private journal of 

 Mr. John Joliffe, Surgeon of the Geyser : — " After giving an ac- 

 count of some curious monkeys with white shining silvery hair, 

 M. Dumarele casually mentioned that some time previously, 

 when in command of his own vessel trading along the coasts of 

 Madagascar, he saw at Port Leven, on the north-west end of the 

 island, the shell of an enormous egg, the production of an un- 

 known bird inhabiting the wilds of the country, which held the 

 almost incredible quantity of thirteen wine quart bottles of fluid ! ! !, 

 he having himself carefully measured the quantity. It was of 

 the colour and appearance of an ostrich egg, and the substance 

 of the shell was about the thickness of a Spanish dollar, and 

 very hard in texture. It was brought on board by the natives 

 (the race of ' Sakalavas ') to be filled with rum, having a tole- 

 rably large hole at one end, through which the contents of the 

 egg had been extracted, and which served as the mouth of the 

 vessel. M. Dumarele offered to purchase the egg from the 

 natives, but they declined selling it, stating that it belonged to 

 their chief, and that they could not dispose of it without his 



