De Bry, an engraver of considerable eminence, and a bookseller at
Frankfort-on-the-Maine, being in England in 1587, was induced by our
famous compiler, Hakluyt, to commence the publication of an
illustrated series of voyages, which, after his death, was continued
by his sons. Amongst bibliographers, this compilation is well known as
the _Collection of Great and Little Voyages_. The volumes comprising
the 'little voyages,' relating exclusively to the East, are entitled
_Indiae Orientalis_; they were issued in parts, and their period of
publication extended from 1598 to 1624. The walghvogel is merely
mentioned, but an engraving gives a fanciful representation of the
doings of another Dutch crew on the island. Two gallants, elaborately
attired, are represented riding on a tortoise; while ten others,
seated in a tortoise's shell, are holding a grand symposium. Three
birds are depicted in this plate, which the letter-press says are
walghvogels, but which our eyes tell us are cassowaries, then termed
emeus. It is evident, then, that De Bry had not, at that time, seen a
sketch or description of the dodo: if he had, he would not thus have
confounded it with the cassowary. Moreover, in the letter-press
explanatory of the engraving, it is stated that a living walghvogel
had been brought to Holland, which clearly proves that he had
erroneously confounded the two birds; for a living cassowary, even at
that early date, had actually been transported thither.
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