White. — On the Neiv Zealand Dog. 589 



dog of a kind not previously seen among the Maoris, not 

 that all other New Zealand dogs were alike — " small and 



ugly." 



" Mr. Colenso quotes from Parkinson, ' In one canoe a 

 handsome man, clad in many garments, upper garment made 

 of black and white dogskin. . , . An old man sat in 

 the stern of the canoe ; had on a garment of some black skin, 

 with long hair, dark-brown and white border.' " There would 

 seem nothing here to sufficiently prove that all the dogs seen 

 were small and ugly, and you will notice that we have no 

 mention of any dark-broion dogs seen alive. " Dark-brown " 

 might just as well refer to trimmings of moa-feathers, which 

 are of a hair-like appearance. 



Now to examine the fresh evidence which Mr. Colenso 

 brings forward in his paper. Transactions, vol. xxv., as a re- 

 butment of my own conclusions : — 



" Crozet thus writes concerning their native dog: 'The 

 only quadrupeds I saw in this country were dogs and orits. 

 The dogs are a sort of domesticated fox, quite black or white, 

 very low on the legs, straight ears, thick tail, long body, full 

 jaws but more pointed than that of the fox, and uttering the 

 same cry ; they do not bark like our dogs. These animals are 

 only fed on fish, and it appears that the savages only raise 

 them for food. Some were taken on board our vessels, but it 

 was impossihle to domesticate them like our dogs — they were 

 always treacherous, and bit us frequently. They w^ould have 

 been dangerous to keep where poultry ivas raised or had to be 

 protected. They ^uouIcZ cZcs^roz/ them just like true foxes. They 

 have absolutely no other domestic animal than the dog.' " 



Now, I would ask, why did not Mr. Colenso finish this quota- 

 tion, which I here give from memory : " The rats ivere similar to 

 those of our woods and forests " ? Captain Crozet here gives a 

 very clear description of the dogs which he saw ; but it is to 

 be noted no mention is made of spotted dogs, nor of brown- 

 coloured dogs. You will observe that the feeding and habits 

 of the dog are described in a contradictory manner. " These 

 animals are only fed on fish." Of course, such would seem 

 the case when the dog-owners w^ere employed fishing on the 

 coast. Again, "They would destroy poultry just like true 

 foxes." This is right into my hand. If Crozet found 

 these dogs snapping off the heads of his hens as often 

 as they looked through the bars of their coops, it seems 

 remarkable he should not have concluded that they were 

 accustomed to hunt feathers. Therefore these dogs did 

 hunt the ground-birds, to obtain food for themselves and 

 their masters. 



What we may infer from the remark on the Maori rat I 

 am unable to say. Crozet does not say the rats of our towns 



