148 Prof. Schlegel on some Extinct Gigantic Birds 
Remains of these birds have not hitherto been found; but we 
know them from descriptions and a representation, which per¬ 
haps may, if rightly understood, give a better and more complete 
idea of these beings than the obscure sketch which can be ob¬ 
tained of the New Zealand Moas through their numerous re¬ 
maining bones. 
The description and representation of the largest species, 
called by Leguat “ Geant” is given by that traveller in his nar¬ 
rative* * * § , a work which, notwithstanding all my former trouble, 
I have not been able to see till now, and then in both editions 
together. Before we consider these important documents more 
closely, we will first examine how far their author deserves the 
trustworthiness we ascribe to him. To do this properly we 
must give a concise account of the life and labours of this little- 
known man, who has deserved the thanks of science. 
FRAN501S Leguat, a French gentleman of the then small 
province of Bresset, in Burgundy, after being deprived of his 
liberty for four years, through the revocation of the Edict of 
Nantes, was compelled at last to quit his native country. Like 
many other French refugees of that time he repaired to Holland, 
where he arrived 6th August, 1689. Here he learned that the 
Marquis du Quesne, with the consent of the States General and 
the Directors of the East India Company, was equipping two 
vessels, in which the French protestants who wished to leave 
Europe were to be conveyed to the island of Bourbon, there to 
establish a colony J. This enterprise became known §; and for fear 
of a fleet || which the King of France was going to send to this 
* Voyage et Avantures de Francois Leguat, et de ses Compagnons, en 
deux isles desertes des Indes orientales. Londres, 1708. 2 vols., 8vo 
[12mo]. An English version of this work, in one volume, was published 
in London the same year. 
f Op. cit. i. p. 157. , X Ibid. i. pp. 1, 2. 
§ Ibid. i. p. 69. 
|| Over this fleet of six vessels was set M. Guiton du Quesne, cousin to 
our Marquis. The account of the voyage, which lasted from 1690 to 
1691, is only known to me in English under the title of ‘A New Voyage 
to the East Indies by Mons. Duquesne.” London, 1696. 1 vol., 12mo. 
Afterwards appeared the journal of an unknown person who had partici¬ 
pated in it, under the title of ( Journal d’un Voyage fait aux Indes orien- 
