22 



THE EDINBURGH JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



ON THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE DODO. 



Perhaps there is no Vertebrated animal, which has existed since the wreck of the 

 former world, whose history is involved in such obscurity as that of the Dodo. jMany 

 have doubted that there ever was such a bird; but we hope to show that this is a 

 mistake, although there is every reason to believe that it is now extinct. 



This bird has been variously designa<-ed by Naturalists, as the Dodar, Dldus, and 

 Dodo; but the accounts of its eai'liest describers are so ambiguous, and thoir charac- 

 ters so ill defined, that there is much difficulty in tracing their specific distinctions. 



There appear to be three distinct representations of this species, which have not 

 teen copied from each other; and although two of these are sufficiently rude, yet they 

 bear evident traces of originality, and possess characters so peculiar, that their iden- 

 tity cannot be mistaken. 



^i^i^NSi^^i 



after quoting the accounts given of this kind by Clusius and Bontius, says, " We have 

 seen this bird dried, or its skin stuiFed, in Tradcscant's cabinet," at Lambeth. 



The above figure is taken from a plate in the *' Exotica" of Clusius, published in 

 IbOa. He says it was copied from a rough sketch in the journal of a Dutch voyager, 

 who had seen the bird in the Moluccas, in the year 1598, Clusius says, that he had 

 himself seen only a leg of the Dodo, in the house of Peter Pauw, a professor of me- 

 dicine at Leyden, which was brought from Mam-itius. Clusius calls this bird ^^ Cal- 

 lus galUr.accus pcn-r/rinus" and mentions that the Dutch sailors called it Walgh- 

 Vogel, ^^ Nauseam 2ijove?is avis." 



^y^- 



V/e i:opy the above from the travels of Herbert in Africa, Asia, and other places, 

 published in 1634. It differs from the former iu the shape of tlie bill, but possesses 

 dl the other characters sufficiently marked. 



The third, and most perfect, representation of the Dodo, is taken from the •' JJis- 

 toria SniurQlis ut Mcdica India: Oiientalh,'' by Jacob Bontius, which appeared in 

 1(558. Ray, who published in 1676 and 1688 aa edition of Willughby's Ornithology, 



We now give a copy of the painting of the Dodo in the British Museum, which 

 Edwards faithfully imitated in his " History of Uncommon Birds," plate 294, pub- 

 lished in 1760. He says, " The original picture was drawn in Holland, from a living 

 bird brought from St IMaurice's Island, in the East Indies, in the early times of the 

 discovery of the Indies, by the way of the Cape of Good Hope. It was the property 

 of the late Sir Hans Sloane to the time of his death, and afterwards becoming my 

 property, I deposited it in the British Bluseura, as a great curiosity. The above his- 

 tory of the picture I had from Sir Hans Sloane and the late Dr Mortimer, Secretary 

 to the Royal Society." 



There seems to be pretty clear evidence that an entire specimen of this bird was in 

 the Museum of John Tradescant. It is mentioned in his printed catalogue of Stuflfed 

 Skins of Birds, in *' Section 5, JFhole Birds — Dodar, from the island Mauritius; 

 it is not able to flie, being so big." This specimen was afterwards exhibited in the 

 Ashmolean Museum, and is particularly alluded to by Hyde in his " Religionis Vc- 

 terum Persarum Hisioria,'" printed in 1700, who states it to be then existing in 

 the Museum at Oxford. It was destroyed at a later period than 1755, by order of 

 the Visitors, in consequence of its state of decay. In a Catalogue of that Museum 

 made subsequently to 1755, it is recorded that " the Nos. from 5 to 46, being decayed, 

 were ordered to be removed at a meeting of the majority of the Visitors, January 8, 

 1755." The Dodo was one of these, as it stood No. 29 of the Catalogue, under the 

 name of '^' Gallus gallinaceus pcregrinus Clusii" &c. That there was such a bird 

 in the Museum of Tradescant, there can be no doubt, as the head is still preserved in 

 the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, and one of the feet in the British IMuseum, which 

 aj'e both well figured in Shaw's Naturalist's Miscellany, — the former in plate 1G6, and 

 the latter in plate 143. We have carefully examined the latter, and from its con- 

 struction, we would at once say that it is formed for walking, as the articulation of 

 the hallux or hind toe is not constructed for grasping. 



It will be observed, that our fourth figure exactly agrees with that of Bontius, 

 figure 3d; and when we consider that the first and second figures were taken from ruc'e 

 sketches by travellers unacquainted with the art of drawing, w-e cannot doubt but 

 that they are intended to represent the same bird. The general structure of the head 

 (particularly its hooded appearance), the bill, and the curved and swelling neck, the 

 rounded and clumsy shape of the body, terminating with a cm-ious tuft of feathers on 

 the rump, the short and clumsy legs, and feet with divided toes, all bear striking 

 evidence of their being pictures of the same animal. 



The testimonies of the existence of the Dodo are the following, which we arrange 

 in chronological order : — 



In the year 1497, Vasco de Gama, after doubling the Capo of Good Hope, dis- 

 covered a bay at CO leagues, Augra de San Blaz, near to an island, where he saw a 

 number of birds which the Portuguese called Solitarios; they were of the form of geese, 

 with wings hke bats. On the return of the voyagers, in 1499, they landed and 

 captured a number of these birds. 



Castleton informs us, that during his voyage of 1014, he landed at the island of 

 Bourbon, then " uninhabited, although occasionally visited by the early voyagers. 

 Among the birds, he particularizes a kind of bird the size of a goose, very fat, with 

 short wings, which do not permit them to fly. They have since been called the Giant, 

 and the Isle of France also produces plenty of them. They are white, and naturally 

 so tame as to allow themselves to be taken by the hand ; or, at least, they were so 

 little afraid at the sight of the sailors, it was easy for them to kill great nimihors with 

 sticks and stones. 



In the year 1691, Leguat, with seven other individuals, was left upon the island 

 of Rodrigue, with a view to colonize it ; and so much struck was he with the appear- 

 ance and habits of the Dodo, that he not only introduced figures of it into the fi'ontis ■ 

 piece of his work, but also into his general chart of the island, and his plan of the 

 small colony which was formed. No fewer than sixteen figures of the birds were 

 introduced into the former, and twelve into the plan. He gives the following descrip- 

 tion of the Dodo : — 



" Of all birds which inhabit the island, the most remarkable is that which has been 

 designated Solitaire (the Solitary), as they are seldom seen in flocks, although there 

 is abundance of them. 



" The plumage of the male is generally grayish, or brown, with feet formed like 

 those of a tuvkey-ccck, as is also the bill, but a little more hooked. They have scarcely 

 any tail, and their rump, covered with feathers, is as much rounded as the croup uf a 

 horse. They are higher than the tm'key-cock, and have a straight neck, a little longer 



