THE DODO, 
1 } 
the ostrich, obtains as strongly here. The cassowary swal- 
lows every thing that conies within the capacity of its gul- 
let. The Dutch assert, that it can devour not only glass, 
non, and stones, but even live on burning coals, without 
testifying the smallest fear, or feeling the least injury. It 
is said that the passage of the food through its gul let is per- 
formed so speedily, that even the very eggs which it has 
swallowed whole, pass through it unbroken, in the same 
form they went down. The cassowary’s eggs are of a grey 
ash colour, inclining to green. The largest is found to be 
fifteen inches round one way, and about twelve the other. 
The voice of this bird resembles the grunting of a how. 
1 he southern parts of the most eastern Indies seem to 
be the natural climate of the cassowary. His domain, if 
we may so call it, begins where that of the ostrich termi- 
nates. The latter has never been found beyond the 
Ganges: while the cassowary is never seen nearer than 
the islands of Banda, Sumatra, Java, the Molucca Islands, 
and the corresponding parts of the continent. 
The Dono. Swiftness is generally considered as the 
peculiar attribute of birds, but the dodo, instead of exciting 
that idea by its appearance, scents to strike the imagination 
as a thing the most unwieldy and inactive of all nature. 
Its body is massive, almost cubical, and covered with grey 
feathers : it is just barely supported upon two short thick 
legs like pillars. The neck, thick and pursy, is joined to 
the head, which consists of two great chaps, that open far 
behind the eyes, which are large, black, and prominent ; 
so that the animal, when it gapes, seems to be all mouth. 
Hie bill, therefore, is of an extraordinary length, not flat 
and broad, but thick, and of a bluish white, sharp at the 
en( *> a | 1( l ea ch chap crooked in opposite directions. From 
a this results a stupid and voracious physiognomy; 
winch is still more encreased by a bordering of feathers 
round the root of the beak, and which give the appearance 
of a hood or cowl. The dodo is furnished with winers 
covered with soft ash-coloured feathers, but they are too 
short to assist it in flying. It is furnished with a tail, and 
wuli a few small curled feathers ; but this tail is dispro- 
portioned and displaced. Its legs arc too short for run- 
nm^ and its body too fat to be strong. 
his bird is a native of the Isle of France ; and the 
n ch, who first discovered it there, called it in their lan- 
guage the nauseous bird , as well from its disgusting figure, 
s rom the bad taste of its flesh. However, succeeding 
