1671 ] of the Island of Bourbon , &c. 79 
The third kind are Merlins, which, although small, still 
do not fail to carry off chickens & eat them. 
There are, besides, in the Isle a quantity of other birds, 
which wou’d take too long to describe, contenting myself 
with naming the principal, & particularly the Sparrows, 
which here are so thick, & in such quantity, that they do 
great damage in the Isle, eating a great part of the seeds 
which are planted, without a possibility of destroying them, 
because of the too great multitude. 
They would make several crops of grain in one year in 
the Island, if ’twere not for these sparrows, on account of 
which they confine themselves to one crop, taking the 
time when these birds go to build their nests in the 
mountain. 
These Sparrows have plumage like those of Europe, 
except that the males, when in love, have the breast, the 
head, & upper part of the wings, colour of fire. 
All the birds of this Island have each their season at 
different times, being six months in the flat country & six 
months in the mountains, from whence returning they are 
very fat & good to eat. 
I except the Birds of the river & the Solitaires , the 
Partridges, & the Blue-Birds, which do not change. 
Tortoiies. All the Island is filled with Land-tortoises, 
which is one of the good gifts of the place. They have 
the neck long, the head made like the tortoises of Europe, 
a large tail, & four feet. They are from two to three feet 
in length & one foot & a half broad, or thereabouts, & 
more than a foot in thickness. One of these Tortoises 
carries a man easily on its back, & ’tis as much as a man 
can do to carry one of them. The flesh of this Tortoise is 
like that of ox, & their tripe has the same taste. The liver 
of these Tortoises is very large; ’tis one of the most delicate 
morsels which one can eat; who had any of the same in 
France would make good cheer on fast days. There’s 
