Birds. 2261 



with the exception of the breast and belly, which were very good ; and also, because, 

 from the abundance of turtle-doves which the men procured, they became disgusted 

 with the dodos. The figure of these birds is given in the accompanying plate ; they 

 have great heads, with hoods thereon ; they are without wings or tail, and have only 

 little winglets on their sides, and four or five feathers behind, more elevated than the 

 rest. They have beaks and feet, and commonly in the stomach a stone the size of a 

 fist. 



" The dodos, with their round sterns (for they were well fattened), were also obliged 

 to turn tail ; everything that could move was in a bustle ; the fish, which had lived in 

 peace for many a year, were pursued into the deepest water-pools. 



" On the 25th July, Willem and his sailors brought some dodos which were very 

 fat ; the whole crew made an ample meal from three or four of them, and a portion 



remained over They sent on board smoked fish, salted dodos, land-tortoises, 



and other game, which supply was very acceptable. They were busy for some days 

 bringing provisions to the ship. On the 4th of August Willem 's men brought 50 large 

 birds on board the Bruyn-Vis ; among them were 24 or 25 dodos, so large and heavy 

 that they could not eat any two of them for dinner, and all that remained over was 

 salted. 



" Another day, Hogeveen (Willem's supercargo) set out from the tent with four 

 seamen, provided with sticks, nets, muskets, and other necessaries for hunting. They 

 climbed up mountain and hill, roamed through forest and valley, and during the three 

 days that they were out they captured another half-hundred of birds, including a mat- 

 ter of 20 dodos, all which they brought on board and salted. Thus were they, and 

 the other crews in the fleet, occupied in fowling and fishing." — p. 15. 



In 1627 Sir Thomas Herbert visited Mauritius, and found it still uninhabited by 

 man. He met with the dodo, and thus describes it in his work intituled ' Some yeares 

 Travels into divers parts of Asia and Afrique, describing especially the two famous 

 empires, the Persian and Great Mogull. Revised and enlarged by the Author.' 

 Fol. London, 1638. 



" The Dodo comes first to our description : here and in Dygarrois (and nowhere 

 else that ever I could see or heare of) is generated the dodo, (a Portuguize name it is and 

 has reference to her simplenes), a bird which for shape and rarenesse might be called 

 a phoenix (wer't in Arabia) : her body is round and extreame fat, her slow pace begets 

 that corpulencie ; few of them weigh lesse than fifty pound : better to the eye than 

 stomack: greasie appetites may perhaps commend them, but to the indifferently 

 curious, nourishment, but prove offensive. Let's take her picture : her visage darts 

 forth melancholy, as sensible of Nature's injurie in framing so great and massie a 

 body to be directed by such small and complementall wings as are unable to hoise her 

 from the ground, serving only to prove her a bird ; which otherwise might be doubted 

 of: her head is variously drest, the one half hooded with downy blackish feathers ; 

 the other perfectly naked ; of a whitish hue as if a transparent lawne had covered it : 

 her bill is very howked and bends downwards, the thrill or breathing place is in the midst 

 of it ; from which part to the end, the colour is of lightish green mixed with a pale yellow : 

 her eyes be round and small and bright as diamonds : her clothing is of finest downe, 

 such as you see in goslins : her trayne is (like a China beard) of three or foure short 

 feathers ; her legs thick and black and strong ; her talons or pounces sharp ; her sto- 

 mack fiery hot, so as stones and iron are easily digested in it; in that and shape not 

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