res edifiantes_ (edit. 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.
But now for the _bat_:--

"La _chauve-souris_ est ici de la grosseur d'une poule. Cet
_oiseau_ ne vit que de fruits et de grains, et c'est un mets
fort commun dans le pays. J'avois de la repugnance a suivre
l'exemple de ceux qui en mangeoient; mais en ayant goute par
surprise, j'en trouvai la chair fort delicate. On peut dire
que cet _animal_, qu'on abhorre naturellement, n'a rien de
mauvais que la figure."

The Italics are mine; but they serve to show how the confusion has
arisen. The writer speaks of the almost entire extinction of the land
Turtles, which were formerly abundant; and says, that the island was
well stocked with goats and wild hogs, but for some time they had
retreated to the mountains, where no one dared venture to wage war
upon them.

Again, in the _Voyage de l'Arabie Heureuse par l'Ocean Oriental et
le Detroit de la Mer rouge, dans les Annees 1708-10_ (Paris, 1716,
12mo.), the vessels visit both Mauritius and Bourbon, and some account
of the then state of both islands is given. At the Mauritius, one of
the captains relates that, foraging for provisions,--

"Toute notre chasse se borna a quelques pigeons rougeatres,
que nous tuames, et qui se laissent tellement approcher,
qu'on peut les assommer a coup de pierres.