554 Transactions. — Miscellaneoiis. 



" Ao ! ao ! ao ! ao ! a-ao-o ! " ' (' Polynesian Mythology,' by Sir 

 G. Grey). Cf. au, to bark as a dog ; Taliitian, aoa, to bark or 

 howl ; Hawaiian, aoa, to howl as a dog, to wail for grief for 

 lost friends." These words are evident imitations of a dog 

 howling, or having a ta7igi, and it is probably a misnomer to 

 use the translation "to bark." Myself and correspondents 

 are agreed that the native dog did not bark, and none of the 

 writers were previously aware of my own experience with the 

 native wild dog of the South Island. 



Darwin gives some curious instances on this point. Cer- 

 tain dogs kept at the Zoological Gardens, in England, which 

 in their former state did not bark, afterwards learnt to bark 

 from hearing dogs do so which were kept in adjoining en- 

 closures. So it is quite possible for us now to find that the 

 true Maori dog has also learnt to bark from hearing his Euro- 

 pean relatives do so. So, in searching for the Maori dog, this 

 should be borne in mind. On the other hand, Darwin men- 

 tions certain European dogs left or escaped on some island, 

 and which were accustomed to feed on the shellfish along the 

 sea-shore at low-water. The descendants of these dogs had 

 entirely lost the faculty of barking. As New Zealand was 

 formerly only stocked with birds and rats, which were an easy 

 prey to the kuri, barking or baying would be of no service to 

 the dog, and would be lost from disuse. That is with the 

 exception of the moa ; and there seems to be no Maori tradi- 

 tion mentioning the use of the dog in catching this bird. It 

 would be interesting to know whether the original dingo of 

 Australia was accustomed to bark, for j)robably these dogs 

 would be used to bring the emu to bay. I rather fancy they 

 did not bark, but I have no authority to refer to. It is a great 

 pity that travellers in a new country take so little notice of 

 ordinary or domestic animals, which are the first to die out or 

 be modified by interbreeding with their imported relations ; 

 with the result that those who come after them addle their 

 brains in a difficult search after relics of the past. 



The Maoris of the present day are not reliable sources for 

 information on the kuri. Note that after New Zealand had 

 been occupied by Europeans for fifty years or more the kiore, 

 or native rat {Mas maorium), which was said all that time to be 

 extinct, is now proved to exist both in the North and South 

 Islands of New Zealand, and possibly two distinct species, as 

 is the case with many of the birds of the two Islands. This 

 is a reddish-grey rat, touched with black hairs. Then, in the 

 North Island we also have the Polynesian black rat [Mus 

 rattus). Of these the Maori and early settlers took no ac- 

 count. The fact is, a rat is just a rat, and nothing more, to 

 the casual observer. And with the supposed extinct kuri it is 

 probably the same. Having now proved beyond doubt that 



