552 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



of person or thing, but hardly translatable. But kau in any 

 sense cannot have the remotest relation to an ox or a cow. 

 Before their introduction by Europeans cattle were not known 

 to the natives of New Zealand. A fully-tattooed Maori will 

 have the whole face covered from forehead to chin with trac- 

 ings or lines forming distinct patterns, each pattern having a 

 name. 



"Taikomoko, half-brother to Te Whiti, a man about sixty 

 years of age, knows well the native dog, and says they were 

 brought to New Zealand by the Maoris from the islands. He 

 says they were quite distinct from the present wild dog in this 

 Island, which is the European dog gone wild. The real native 

 dog is of a whitish or light colour, small, with long straight 

 hair. Their skins were formerly used for making mats, and 

 the hair ia ornamenting the sharp end of the taialia. He says 

 the native dog has been extinct on this coast since 1860, but 

 yet may be found on the upper Waitara, Ngatimaru country, 

 or at the remote settlements between Mokau and Kauhi. 



" The skull of the dog found in the cliff was sent to 

 Dr. Hector, who pronounced it the skull of a Maori do" 



^""'"'^ *^^"^y' " Thomas Good.'^ 



Captain Good is in error in respect to the ears of 

 terriers, which are much similar to those of the sheep-doo-; 

 but, owing to the custom of trimming, the dog is seldom seen 

 with ears in their natural form. All small puppies of any 

 breed have drooping ears flat to the head. 



In the above letter Captain Good describes a small dog or 

 breed of dogs. But, supposing you see a man accompaniecf by 

 terriers, that is no proof that all dogs are terriers ; and, as 

 before pointed out, Maori tradition describes breeds of dogs 

 under different names. For instance. Sir George Grey tells 

 the following story in " Polynesian Mythology : " — 



_" Houmaitawhiti, an ancestral hero of tiie Maori, who 

 resided at Hawaiki, had a dog named Potaka-tawhiti. ' This 

 dog offended the high-priest Uenuku, and was killed by Uenuku 

 and Toi-te-hautahi. This act was revenged by Taniatekapua 

 and Whakaturia, and a great war began in Hawaiki, which 

 was the cause of the great migration of the Maoris to New 

 Zealand." 



" A famous native dog or breed of dogs, called mohorangi, 

 were brought from Hawaiki in the canoe Mangarara by Tara- 

 whata, and put on the island of Whanga-o-keno. Some time 

 afterwards this dog or one of them was seen by Ponuiahine, 

 the daughter of Kaiawa; but she, not having gone throuo-h 

 the proper religious ceremonies, and daring to look with 

 unveiled eyes upon the sacred dog, was turned into a grass- 

 hopper." (J. White's "Ancient History of the Maori.") 



