St. Paul's Churchyard.—
"In St. Paul's Church Yard were formerly many shops where music and musical instruments were sold, for which, at this time, no better reason can be given than that the service at that Cathedral drew together, twice a day, all the lovers of music in London; not to mention that the chairmen were wont to assemble there, where they were met by their friends and acquaintance."—Sir John Hawkins' History of Music, vol. v. p. 108.
The French Change, Soho.—A place so called in the reign of Queen Anne. Gough, in a MS. note, now before us, thought it stood on the site of the present bazaar.
EDWARD F. RIMBAULT.
NOTES ON THE DODO.
I have to thank "Mr. S.W. SINGER" (No. 22. p. 353.) for giving some interesting replies to my "Dodo Queries" (No. 17. p. 261.). I trust that Mr. S. will be induced to pursue the inquiry further, and especially to seek for some Portuguese account of the Mascarene Islands, prior to the Dutch expedition of 1598. I am now able to state that the supposed proof of the discovery of Bourbon by the Portuguese in 1545, on the authority of a stone pillar, the figure of which Leguat has copied from Du Qesne, who copied it from Flacourt, turns out to be inaccurate. On referring to Flacourt's Histoire de la Grande Isle Madagascar, 4to., Paris, 1658, p. 344, where the original figure of this monument is given, I find that the stone was not found in Bourbon at all, but in "l'Islet des Portugais," a small island at the mouth of the river Fanshere (see Flacourt, p. 32.), near the S.E. extremity of Madagascar. From this place Flacourt removed it to the neighbouring settlement of Fort Dauphin in 1653, and engraved the arms of France on the opposite side to those of Portugal. We are therefore still without any historical record of the first discovery of Bourbon and Mauritius, though, from the unanimous consent of later compilers, we may fairly presume that the Portuguese were the discoverers.
The references which Mr. Singer has given to two works which mention the Oiseau bleu of Bourbon, are very important, as the only other known authority for this extinct bird is the MS. Journal of Sieur D.B., which thus receives full confirmation. May I ask Mr. Singer whether either of these writers mentions the Solitaire as inhabiting Bourbon?
The "Oiseaux appelez Flamands" quoted by Mr. S., are merely Flamingos, and are devoid of interest as regards the present question.
The history of the Dodo's head at Copenhagen, referred to by Mr. Singer, is fully recorded in the Dodo and its Kindred, pp. 25. 33.