Colenso.— On the Native Dog of Neio Zealand. 499 



when living, and food and clothing when dead, is highly 

 valued by those it serves, and its bones carefully preserved. 

 The skeleton of one, bleaching in the sun, was found on a 

 high pole at the Nanm [name of one of the captured pas] , 

 with the tapu, or sacred thread, wound round it, and a tuft of 

 white feathers fastened to its skull." (L.c, pp. 215, 216.) 

 Of course Dr. Marshall received this information respecting 

 their food, and much more, from Mrs. Guard, who with her 

 child were residing as captives among those Maoris for five 

 months, until they were rescued by H.M.S. " Alligator," and 

 who were most honourably and carefully treated by them. 

 (I knew this Captain Guard well ; indeed, we were fellow- 

 passengers during a protracted voyage in a small craft from 

 Sydney to the Bay of Islands in 1834.) 



And here I would briefly mention another sad time in 

 Maori history, anterior to the wreck of Guard's ship (as bear- 

 ing on the matter in question) — viz., the long devastating war 

 carried on in those parts by the Waikato tribes against the 

 Ngatiawa, the resident tribe, and particularly the bloody 

 sieges of two principal pas there — Pukerangiora and Moturoa. 

 Now, the Moturoa Pa was strongly fortified, and the Ngatiawa 

 within it were much helped by the well-known resident trader 

 Eichard Barrett and his European men — about a dozen in all. 

 These Maoris were also iccll armed, as Barrett had been long 

 supplying them with muskets, ammunition, &c; while the 

 whites had also two ship's cannon, which they used successfully 

 against the besiegers. 



So that from these facts — of those Maoris being at that 

 early date so well supplied with European arms and ammuni- 

 tion — the reasonable inference is that there must have been 

 a considerable trade by way of barter long going on between 

 them and shipping. 



I can assure Mr. Skinner that "the very early traders did 

 bring dogs with them as an article of trade," and large-sized 

 ones too ; these being particularly sought after by the Maoris 

 for their skin. Such were seen by Marsden and Nicholas on 

 their visit to and travels in New Zealand in 1814-15, and " in 

 large numbers," too, and "running wild."* And such (apart 

 from my own certain knowledge) is, moreover, highly reason- 

 able, as without them the Maoris could not have caught the 

 wild pigs which were a chief article of barter with those 

 traders and early whalers — indeed, the only animal food of the 

 country that they could use or obtain. 



Moreover, the facts stated by Dr. Marshall — (1) of the 

 bones of those " imported " dogs being " carefully preserved "; 

 and (2) the skeleton of another found " set apart (tapu= sacred), 



* Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. x., p. 137. 



