1781, t. xiii. p. 302.) is a letter
from Pere Brown to Madame de Benamont concerning the Isle of Bourbon,
which he calls "_l'Isle de Mascarin_" erroneously saying it was
discovered by the Dutch about sixty years since. (The letter is
supposed to have been written about the commencement of the eighteenth
century.) He then relates how it was peopled by French fugitives
from Madagascar, when the massacre there took place on account of
the conduct of the _French_ king and his court. In describing its
production, he says,--
"Vers l'est de cette Isle il y a une petite plaine au haut
d'une montagne, qu'on appelle la Plaine des _Caffres_, ou
l'on trouve un gros _oiseau bleu_, dont la couleur est fort
eclatante. Il ressemble a un pigeon ramier; il vole rarement,
et toujours en rasant la terre, mais il marche avec une
vitesse surprenante; les habitans ne lui ont point encore
donne d'autre nom que celui _d'oiseau bleu_; sa chair est
assez bonne et se conserve longtemps."
Not a word, however, about the _Dodo_, which had it then existed
there, would certainly have been noticed by the observant Jesuit.
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