164 M. de Quatrefages on 



ception *. In fact, the bones of that animal have only been 

 found in the ancient ovens, or among the fragments scattered 

 around primitive kitchens. But then, in opposition to what 

 has been said by Dr. Haast, they occur in abundance. I 

 hardly find an excavator who has not indicated their existencCj 

 and they are always associated with bones of Moas. 



Here, however, we meet with a fact which may appear 

 singular at the first glance, and upon which the New-Zealand 

 naturalist has repeatedly insisted. The bones of all kinds 

 scattered in the vicinity of the ovens are very rarely gnavvedf. 

 From this Dr. Haast concludes that the Moa-hunters were 

 not accompanied by dogs ; for these, he says, would not have 

 failed to attack the remains of their masters' repasts. But, 

 in speaking thus, he forgets that the canine race introduced 

 into New Zealand Avas essentially destined to furnish food and 

 clothing J. The Maori dog, coming from the Manaia Islands, 

 belonged to that Polynesian race which all travellers represent 

 as living only upon vegetables, and which must have retained 

 its ancient habits in New Zealand §. 



Moreover, if some dogs took to eating meat their masters 

 would soon have perceived that this food modified the taste 



(Haast, ' Geology of the Provinces of Canterbury and Westlaud,' chaps. 

 X. & xii.). I have elsewhere referred to the fact that the Cetacea play 

 a part in the traditions of the Maoris (' Les Polynesiens et leurs Migra- 

 tions,' chap, iv.), and that every animal of this kind thrown upon the 

 shore belonged of right to the Ariki, the chief of the territory (' Journal 

 des Savants,' January 1873). 



* Capt. Rowan has ascertained the presence of a dog's slieleton in the 

 hollow trunk of a tree bnried in the silt of a river near Wellinglon Har- 

 bour. This tree was at a depth of G metres (about 20 feet) and beneath 

 a layer of lignite. But beside and behind the bones there were found 

 the hairs of the animal, with some fibres of hemp and a stalk of the 

 same plant. It is evident that the carcass had been carried into this hole 

 by some flood of the river, and that the event was quite recent. This 

 has been w ell understood by Dr. Hector. That naturalist adds, that the 

 burial of this dog is of earlier date than any other known (" On the 

 Remains of a Dog found by Capt. Rowan near White Clifls, Taranaki," 

 in * Transactions ' itc. vol. Lx. p. 243). 



t The only fact of this nature that I have seen mentioned in the various 

 memoirs written by the New-Zealand naturalists has been by Capt. 

 Hutton. Two Moa-bones collected by his co//abonifei<r,lSh\ Booth, near 

 the weirs of the Shng river had been gnawed by dogs {loc. cit. 'Trans- 

 actions ' &c. voh viii. p. 106). 



+ " They are cari-ying some dcgs with them, as these would be very 

 valuable in the i.'-lands they w^ere going to, for supplying by their increase 

 a good article of food and skins for warm cloaks " (Sir George Grey, 

 ' Polynesian Mythology,' p. 214). 



§ The dog was called /u/rt by the Maoris. This local race was of small 

 size, with a brown or yellowish coat, with long ears and a bushy tail. 

 It is now e.xtinct and replaced by nur European dogs. 



