The Voyages made by the Sieur D B to the Islands Dauphiné or Madagascar and Bourbon or Mascarenne in the Years 1669, 1670, 1671 and 1672

Abstract

THIS little volume might well have been produced by the Hakluyt Society, with the publications of which it is uniform. It is the translation of a rare French book, describing the voyages of one Dubois in the seventeenth century. The translation well reflects the quaintness of the original, although the attempt to imitate the English style and spelling of two centuries since are not always very happy. Captain Oliver has supplied an introduction tracing the history of Dubois, and of the French colonies in the islands of the Indian Ocean during his lifetime; as well as a series of notes on various points mentioned in the text. Apart from the historical interest attached to all early travels the narration of the Sieur D. B. has a certain original value, as he describes from his own observations several of the extinct birds of Réunion, especially the Solitaire and Oiseau bleu, which were contemporaries of the Dodo of Mauritius, and closely resembled that bird in their habits. These descriptions have long since been fully discussed by ornithologists, both in France and England.

The Voyages made by the Sieur D. B. to the Islands Dauphiné or Madagascar and Bourbon or Mascarenne in the Years 1669, 1670, 1671 and 1672.

Translated and edited by Captain Pasfield Oliver, late Royal Artillery. With facsimile maps and illustrations. Pp. xl + 160. (London: David Nutt, 1897.)