Publications and Research

Autumn 1995

The Government of Canada bond market since 1980 by Andrew Branion The effect of foreign demand shocks on the Canadian economy: An analysis using QPM by Ben Hunt The role of monetary conditions and the monetary conditions index in the conduct of policy [speech] by Charles Freedman

Cover: Mauritius, 10 rupees, 1971

On the third anniversary of its independence, Mauritius issued a commemorative 10-rupee coin featuring the dodo bird (Didus ineptus). Now extinct, the dodo was a large, flightless bird nearly the size of a swan. It had a huge black bill ending in a horny hook, stout yellow legs, and a short tail that formed a curly tuft. The dodo's plumage was a dark ash colour, but it had a whitish breast and white wings.

Native only to the island of Mauritius, the dodo lived in forests and laid a single, large, white egg on a mound of grass. It lived undisturbed by man until 1505, when the island was discovered by a Portuguese navigator. From 1598 to 1710, the Dutch inhabited Mauritius, and it was during this period that the dodo became extinct. The bird was slaughtered for sport rather than for food, as no amount of cooking made it palatable. By 1681 it had been exteriminated.

The dodo had no fear of man or animals. Because it made no effort to save itself, it became the proverbial symbol of stupidity or ineptness; hence the expressions, "dumb as a dodo" or simple, "a dumb dodo."

Slightly smaller than a Canadian silver dollar and struck in copper-nickel, the coin shown on the cover is part of of the National Currency Collection of the Bank of Canada.

Photography by James Zagon.