Chap. II. of the E A s 
44 fmooth, and in Colour of a dark Blue ; on the theft 
44 there hangs two Excreffences like Bags : The Eyes are 
44 large and fierce, behind which are the Ear-holes, and 
44 alrnoft. at the Extremity of the Bill two Noftrils ; 
44 and from the Mid ft of the Bill to the Crown or the 
44 Head grows a hard yellow Subftance like a Cockle- ftiell, 
44 efpecially in the Males. They have very long and grofs 
44 Legs, covered with a yellowifh Rind ; their Feet are 
44 thick, knobby, and without Spurs ; inftead of which 
44 they have on the Fore-part three long, horny Claws, in 
64 which they differ from the Oftrich, whofe Feet, are 
44 cloven both before and behind. They are covered all 
44 over with Feathers, or rather Plumes of a dark Red, 
44 mixed with Black : Thefe upon the Breaft and Thighs 
44 grow two and two together •, but thofe on the Tail 
44 are of much greater Length, and ftronger ; underneath 
44 the Feathers which grow on both Sides, are hidden 
44 certain Pens, which ferve them in running ; for thefe 
44 Birds are fcarce able to raife themfelves from the 
44 Ground. They are exceeding greedy, devouring every 
44 Thing they meet with, even to Iron and burning 
44 Coals, all which they evacuate backwards without any 
44 Alteration •, nay, they fometimes do not throw out what 
44 they have eat till a Year after, without the leaft Signs of 
44 any Digeftion •, for the reft they live upon Herbage. 
44 Their Strength confifts in their Legs and Feet, and they 
44 run fo faft that no Man can overtake them ; and when 
44 exafperated, kick with their Feet backwards and fide- 
44 ways like a Horfe. They lay greenifh Eggs upon 
44 the Ground among the Shrubs, fcarce fo big as our 
44 Lien -eggs, fpeckled with dark green Spots, the Yolks 
44 thereof are eaten by the Inhabitants. They have not 
44 either Tongue or Tail.” 
This Bird was firft feen in Europe in the Year 1597, 
when the Dutch brought home one on their Return from 
their firft Voyage to the Indies q . It had been given them 
as a great Curiofity by one of the Javanefe Princes, as a 
Mark of their Friendfhip ; and the Defcription of it 
having made a great Noife in the World, Lewis XIV. 
when he formed his Menagery at Verfailles had one 
fent him in the Year 1671 , by the Governor of the 
Ifland of St. Lawrence , or Madagafcar , who bought it 
of fome Merchants who touched at that Ifland in 
their Return from the Indies. This was the firft of its 
Kind that had been feen in France , and it lived at Ver- 
failles about four Years. The King had afterwards feveral 
of thefe Birds fent him, which gave the Members of the 
Royal Academy an Opportunity of examining and dif- 
fering fome of them : The largeft was five Foot and 
a half high, its Legs two Foot and a half, its Plead 
and Neck a Foot and a half, the largeft of its Claws 
five Inches long, and the Nail of its fmalleft Claw 
three Inches and a half. The Wing, which was com- 
pofed only of five bare Quills, was fo fmall that it was 
entirely covered by the Feathers on its Back. The Plead, 
Neck, and Cheft of this Creature were abfolutely bare, 
and the reft of its Body might be more properly faid to 
be covered with Hair than with Feathers : In all other 
Refpefts the Defcription given by them of this Bird, agrees 
exactly with that which we have before given, and there- 
fore it would be tedious to repeat it, only it may not be 
amifs to obferve, that the Head and Neck are faid to have 
refembled a Turkey-cock’s, and to have been fpotted 
with blue, violet, and red, a large Comb behind its Head, 
and its Gills, inftead of hanging immediately under its 
Beak, appeared on the Bottom of its Neck, where it 
joined the Breaft. In its Size it came neareft to the 
Oftrich, and was, in every Refpect, as greedy and vo- 
racious r . 
1 6. There are, befides thefe, a great many remarkable 
Birds in the Indies , of which modern Travellers have 
given us very exadl Accounts ; and of thefe we will men- 
tion a few. The Bronte is a very fingular Creature, and 
common in all the Southern Parts of the Indies. In Big- 
nefs it is betwixt an Oftrich and a large Turkey, and has 
fome Refemblance to the laft, in his Feathers and Tail. 
His Head large, not unlike that of a Cuckoe, but 
q Memoirs de J . le Blanc. T Memoirs de l' Acad. Tom. HI, p. 
P . V anden Brock . u Hiftory of China . 
"Indies. 491 
covered all over with a Skin. The Eyes are large and 
black, the Neck crooked and very thick, the Bill very 
long, thick, and of a pale Blue, except towards the Ex- 
tremities ; the uppermoft thereof is blackifh, and the under- 
moft yellowifh, but both Shape and Bent of his Body is 
very thick and round, covered with foil grey Feathers, 
like thofe of an Oftrich. The Belly and upper Parts are 
fo thick as alrnoft to touch the Ground, which is the Rea- 
fon he is very eafily caught. On both Sides lie has cer- 
tain Pens inftead of Wings, of a pale Yellow Colour, 
and, inftead of a Tail, five curled Plumes of the fame 
Colour. His Legs fhort and thick, with four large. 
Claws. The Meat, efpecially that on the Breaft, is fat 
and pleafant enough, and three or four of thefe Crea- 
tures afford a Meal for one hundred Perfons. In his Sto- 
mach is fometimes found a certain porous hard Stone s . 
The Cormorant, which is very common in the Ifland 
of Java, and indeed in moft Parts of the Eaft-Indies , 
feems to me to be the Water-pelican of the Ancients. 
They refemble our Geefe in Shape, but much exceed 
them in Size, and have underneath their Beaks a large Bag, 
which they can extend and draw together at Pleafure, 
and in it keep fuch Fifh as they have fwallowed. Their 
Feet are like thofe of the Swan, and their Bills are 
crooked towards the Extremities. They are fo greedy 
after Prey that they rulh out from among the Flags with 
fuch Violence, that they are eafily taken. They fwallow 
Oifters with their Shells, and keep them in' their Bags 
till they open, when they fpew them out again, and pick 
out the Oifter l . 
If we could depend upon the Accounts given us by 
the Miffionaries of the Birds found in China, we might 
venture to yield implicit Credit to whatever the Anci- 
ents have delivered , their Stories of the Phcenix not 
excepted ; for to fay the Truth, the Miffionaries affirm 
of their own Knowledge Things full as ftrange ; and we 
muft either believe thefe or renounce their Teftimony 
entirely. The Reader ffiall have an Inftance of this from 
Father Navarette u , and in his own Words, that we- 
may not feem to juftify the Truth of this Obfervation, 
by giving an extravagant Turn to what he relates. 
4 4 On the Sea-coafts, fays he, of the Chinefe Iflands, 
44 there is a very fingular Bird called Tahon ; now what 
44 I, and many befides me admire is, that being no 
44 bigger in Body than an ordinary Chicken, though its 
44 Legs are very long, it lays an Egg larger than that of 
44 a Goofe •, fo that the Egg is really bigger than the 
44 Bird itfelf ; and no Man living would judge that the 
44 Egg could be contained within it : In order to lay its 
44 Eggs, it digs in the Sand above a Yard in Depth ; after 
44 laying it fills up the Hole, and makes it even with 
44 the reft •, there the Eggs hatch with the Heat of the 
44 Sun and Sand. When the Chickens are hatched, by 
44 natural Inftinfl, they break through the Sand up- 
44 wards •, and fo get out of that Dungeon their Parent 
44 put them into ; then they walk direftly to the Sea in 
44 fearch of Weeds to feed on. Another Thing in it is 
44 wonderful, which is, that they are not ftifted when 
44 they come out of the Shell with the Heat and Weight 
44 of the Sand, how they breathe till they get out, and 
44 how they have the Strength to break through fo great 
44 a Weight. They are Prodigies of the Almighty’s 
44 making. The Indians , to find thefe Eggs, flick fharp 
44 Canes into the Ground; when they find the Sand light, 
44 they flop and throw it up fomething above the Length 
44 of a Man’s Arm, and there they find them. They 
44 are of a pleafant Relifh •, one of them is enough for 
44 a Man who has a good Stomach ; the ftaler the Egg 
44 the better. One Morning, having lain on Shore, 
44 and near the Place where thefe Birds reforted, we 
44 repaired thither carefully, and making a Noife, a 
44 great Company of them came out of their Holes, in 
44 which we found many Eggs, fome hot, fome cold, 
44 fome white, fome of the Colour of the Sand, which 
44 were ftale ones. I had before eaten of the latter, and 
44 now eat of thofe that were ft efh and warm ; but, in 
44 truth, the ftale ones were much better. There were 
Voiage aux hides par J. U Blanc . f - Voiagcs de 
* among 
