Notes and Queries, Number 30, May 25, 1850 | Page 6

and a further stock of
eatables peremptorily demanded.
I spell the word "brozier" as it is still pronounced; perhaps some of
your readers have seen it in print, and may be able to give some
account of its origin and etymology, and decide whether it is
exclusively belonging to Eton.
BRAYBROOKE.
April 14.
* * * * *
REPLIES.
THE DODO QUERIES.
There is no mention of the Solitaire as inhabiting Bourbon, either in
Père Brown's letter or in the _Voyage de l'Arabic Heureuse_, from
whence the notice of the Oiseau Bleu was extracted. I have since seen
Dellon, _Rélation d'un Voyage des Indes Orientales_, 2 vols. 12mo.
Paris, 1685, in which there is a brief notice of the Isle of Bourbon or
Mascarin; but neither the Dodo, the Solitaire, or the Oiseau Bleu are
noticed. The large Bat is mentioned, and the writer says that the French
who were on the island did not eat it, but only the Indians. He also
notices the tameness of the birds, and says that the Flammand, with its
long neck, is the only bird it was necessary to use a gun against, the

others being readily destroyed with a stick or taken by hand.
Mr. Strickland's correction of the error about the monumental evidence
of the discovery of Bourbon by the Portuguese, in 1545, will aid
research into the period at which it was first visited and named; but my
stock of Portuguese literature is but small, and not all of it accessible
{486} to me at present. In the meantime it may be acceptable to Mr.
Strickland to know, that there is a detailed account of Portuguese
discoveries in a book whose title would hardly indicate it, in which one
passage will probably interest him. I allude to the rare and interesting
folio volume printed at Lisbon in 1571. _De Rebus Emanuelis Regis
Lusitanie, invictissimi Virtute et Auspicio Gestis, auctore Hieronymo
Osorio Episcopo Silvensis_. These annals embrace the period from
1495 to 1529. In narrating the principal events of Vasco de Gama's first
voyage, after he had rounded the Cape of Good Hope on the 25th
November, 1497, steering to the east along the southern coast of Africa,
the vessels anchor in the bay of St. Blaize, where--
"In intimo sinu est parva quædam Insula, ad quam nostri aquandi gratia
naves-appulerunt. Ibi phocarum armenta conspexere admiranda
quædam multitudine. In quibus inerat tanta feritas et truculentia, ut in
homines irruerent. AVES etiam eo in loco visæ sunt, quas incolas
apellant SOLTICARIOS, pares anscribus magnitudine: plumis minime
vestiuntur, alas habent similes alis verspertionum: volare nequeunt, sed
explicatis alarum membranis, cursum celeritate summa conficiunt."
The islet was probably that of _La Cruz_; but what were the birds? and
what was the indigenous name which is represented by _Solticarios_?
It is possible that some of your correspondents may be familiar with the
original narration which Osorio follows, or Mr. Strickland may be able
to solve the question.
I may just remark, that my observation respecting the improbability of
Tradescant's stuffed specimen having been a fabrication could hardly
be considered superfluous, seeing that some naturalists, Dr. Gray, I
believe, among others, had suggested that it most probably was one.
S.W. SINGER.

May 3. 1850.
* * * * *
ABBEY OF ST. WANDRILLE.
In reply to the Vicar of Ecclesfield (No. 24. p. 382.), I am sorry to say
that the "Chronicle of the Abby of St. Wandrille," to which I alluded
(No. 21. p. 338.), contains nothing relating to the subject of his inquiry.
The Abbey of Fontanelle, or St. Wandrille, was founded A.D. 645; and
this chronicle contains a very concise account of a few only of its
abbots and most celebrated members, down to the year 834: written, it
is supposed, by a cotemporary of Ansegisus, the last abbot therein
mentioned. It is followed by an appendix containing a compilation
from a book on miracles wrought in the translation of the body of St.
Wilfran, by an "eye-witness," which also recounts incidentally some of
the acts of the abbots of St. Wandrille to the year 1053. Acheri speaks
of persons who had been long engaged in collecting memorials of the
history of this abbey up to the time of his writing, 1659. Whether these
have ever been published, I have not the means at this moment of
ascertaining. Some account of this abbey, with views of its ruins, will
be found in that splendid work, _Voyages dans L'Ancienne France_, by
Nodier, &c., vol. i.
The following notes from this chronicle may not be without interest, as
showing an early connection between the abbey and this country, and
our attachment to the See of Rome.

Chapter V
. is devoted to the praise of BAGGA, a monk and presbyter of this
abbey, who is said