superabat, aliorum duorum illi proximorum vix binas uncias oequabat, posterions sescunciam : omnium
verb ungues crassi, duri, nigri, minus unciâ longi, sed posterions digiti longior reb'quis, et unciam
superans."—ExoUea, lib. v. cap. iv. p. 100.
5. Cornelius Matelicf, a Dutch Admiral, arrived at Mauritius in 1606, and after alluding
in his Journal to the abundance of birds in the island, he proceeds :—
" On y trouve encore un certain oisean, que quelques-uns nomment Dodarse, on Dodaersen :
d'autres lui donnent le nom de Dronte. Les premiers qui vinrent en cette isle les nommèrent Oiseaux
de dégoût, parce qu'ils en pouvoient prendre assez d'autres, qui étoient meilleurs. Ils sont aussi
grands qu' un eigne, et couverts de petites plumes grises, sans avoir d'ailes ni de queues, mais seulement
des ailerons aux côtés, et 4 ou 5 petites plumes au derrière, un peu plus élevées que les autres.
Leurs pics sont grands et épais, leur bec et leurs yeux fortlaids, et ordinairement ils ont dans 1' estomac
une pierre aussi grosse que le poing."—Recueil des Yoiages de la Comp. des Ind. Or. vol. iii. p. 214.
The Dutch version of this account is as follows :—
"Men vinter ooc sekeren vogel, die van sommige Dodaersen genaemt wort, van andere 2)ro» to/, de
eerste die hier arriveerden hietense Walgh-voghels, om datse andere genoech kouden krijgen. Dese zijn so
- groot als ecu Swanc, met kleyne grauwe veerkens, sonder vlcugelen oft staert, hebben alleen tcr zijde
kleyne wiecken, eude achtcr vier of vijf veerkens, wat mecr vcrheven als de andere, hebben groote
dicke vocten, met ecu grooten leelijcken beck en oogen, ende hebben gemceidijck hide mage een steen
so groot as een vuyst. Sy zijn redelijck om te eten, maer t ' beste darter aen is, is de maeg."—Begin
ende voortgangh der Vereenighde Nederl. Geoctroyeerde Oostindische Compagnie, vol. ii., Matelief's
Voy. p. 5.
6. In 1607 two ships under the command of Van der Hagen remained some weeks in
Mauritius, and the crews feasted on an abundance of " tortoises, dodars, pigeons, turtles, grey
parroquets, and other game." Not content with devouring numbers of these animals, it is
stated that they salted quantities of tortoises and dodars for consumption during the voyage :—
" Pendant tout le temps qu' on fut là, on vécut de tortues, de dodarses, de pigeons, de tourterelles,
de penoquets gris, et d'autre chasse, qu' on alloit prendre avec les mains dans les bois La
chair des tortues terrestres étoit d'un fort bon goût. On en sala, et 1' on en fit fumer, dont on se trouva
fort bien, demême que des dodarses qu' on sala."—Recueil des Voiages de la Compagnie des Indes Or.
vol. iii. p. 195, 199. See also Prévost, Recueil des Voyages. Rouen, 1725, v. 5. p. 246.
The Dutch original is to be found in the Journal of Steven Van der Hagen in the ' Tweede
deel van het begin ende voortgangh der Verecnighdc Nederl. Geoctroyeerde Oostindische
Compagnie,' 1646, pp. 88, 89 :—
" Aile den tijt dat hier lagen, zijnde ontrcnt 2 3 dagen, aten anders niet dan Schilt-padden,
Dodaersen, Duyven, &c. . . . 'T Vleesch vande Landt Schilt-padden is goet, ende smakclijck, is door
eenighe van d' haeren ghesouten, ende gherooekt, dat hem wonder wel ghehouden hceft, als ooek de
Dodaersen, die ghesouten hebben."
7. We next come to the narrative of P. W. Verhuffcn, who touched at Mauritius in 1611,
and mentions Dodos under the name of Tolersten. He describes them in nearly the same
1646, and these words may therefore be likewise due to the officiousness of editors. The
earliest use of the word Dodars may, after all, date from 1613, when Vcrhuffen's Voyage
was published; here, however, it occurs under the corrupt form of Tolersten. There is little
doubt that the name is derived from Dodoor, which in the Dutch language means a sluggard,
and is very applicable to the lazy habits and appearance of this bird. Dodaers is not improbably
a cant word among Dutch sailors, analogous to our term " lubber" and perhaps aims at
expressiveness rather than elegance. Sir Thomas Herbert was the first to use this name in
its modern form of Dodo. He tells us that it is a Portuguese word; and, in fact, we find that
doudo in the last-named language, means "foolish" or "simple." But as none of the
Portuguese voyagers appeal- to have mentioned the Dodo, nor even to have visited Mauritius
subsequently to their first discovery of the island, such a derivation is highly improbable.
I t seems far more likely that Dodars is a genuine Dutch word, and that the pedantic Sir
Thomas, who delighted in far-fetched etymologies, altered it to Dodo in order to make it fit
with his philological theories.
The derivation of the word Dronte, is still more obscure than that of Dodo. German,
Dutch, and Scandinavian dictionaries are alike unconscious of such a word. Can it be synonymous
in meaning with Dodoor, and allied to the English drone, in German, drohnc ?
4. In 1605, Clusius saw in the house of Pauwius, a professor at Leyden, a Dodo's leg,
which he describes as having the tarsus a little more than four inches long, and nearly four
inches in circumference, covered with thick yellowish scales, broad in front, and smaller and
darker coloured behind. The middle toe to the nail, was a little over two inches long, the
two next were under two inches, and the hind toe one inch and a half; all the claws were thick,
black, and less than an inch long, except that of the back toe, which exceeded an inch. All trace
of this specimen is now lost. It is not mentioned in the ' Catalogue of all the chcifest rarities
in the publick Theater and Anatomie-IIall of the University of Leiden,' 4to., Leiden, 1678;
nor in a later edition of that Catalogue, published by Gerrard Blancken, in 1707 ; nor in the
apparently contemporary tract entitled ' Res curiosas et exoticae in Ambulacro Horti Academici,
Lugduno-Batavi conspicuas;' nor in two old catalogues of wet preparations preserved
at Leyden, all which are bound together in a volume in the Bodleian Library (Line. E. 1. 31.);
and M. de Blainville tells us that he sought for it in the Museums of Leyden and Amsterdam
without success. The following is Clusius' account:—
"Verumenimvero, concinnata et descripta jam qua potui fide hujus avis historia, Alius crus genu tenus
rcscissum apud CI. V. Petrum Pawium, primarium artis medica; in Academia Lugduno-Batava Professorem
videre contigit reeens e Mauritii Insula relatum. Erat autem non valde longum, sed a genu
usque ad pedis iiiflexionem paullb plus quam quatuor uncias superabat; ejus verb crassitude- magna,
ut cujus ambitus pasne quatuor uncias ajquabat, crebrisque corticibus seu squamis tectum erat, prona
quidem parte latioribus et flavescentibus, suphm verb minoribus, et fuscis: pedis etiam digitorum
prona pars singularibus iisque latis squamis praedita, supina autem tota callosa: digiti satis breves pro
tam crasso crure; nam maximi sivc medii ad unguem usque longitudo binas uncias non admoduin