150 Transactions.—Miscellaneous. 
It remains for me to show what I have been able to glean from the old 
New Zealanders, during the course of many years’ residence and enquiry, 
concerning their ancient dog, now a creature of the past, equally so with 
the moa and the kiore, or New Zealand rat. 
From the reliable old natives I gathered that their dog was of small 
size, and but few in number in a pa or village; that it did not bark,* only 
howled plaintively at times ; that it would not bite man ; and that rats (the 
old edible rat) and birds were (in part) its food; that the owners of the 
dogs were greatly attached to them, gave them names, and prized and petted 
them (just as I have known the New Zealanders to do to their pigs and 
mongrel dogs forty years ago); that some of them were trained to seize 
ground-birds, such as wekas and kiwis, for their masters, and this was effected 
in great part through stratagem on the part of the native, who, when he went 
a bird-catching, would take his dog with him, always leading him securely 
tied by a cord, and, squatting down concealed in a fit place, held his dog, 
and imitating the cry of the bird he was in quest of, the bird came near, 
when the little dog was let go, and he ran and seized the bird, and held it 
or brought it to his master. Sometimes they lost their dogs, owing to its 
stupidity or laziness; but the true New Zealand dog never became wild in 
the woods. Sometimes they were stolen or killed, which of course always 
led to reprisals, and not unfrequently to murder and to war. Their loss 
or untimely death was lamented in songs and monodies, of which several 
are still extant. The white-haired dogs were greatly prized, especially if 
they had long-haired tails. Such were indeed objects of envy, and were 
fitting presents for a king! These dogs were taken the greatest possible 
care of; they slept in a house on clean mats, so that their precious tails 
should be kept as white as possible. Their tails were curiously and 
regularly shaved, and the hair preserved for ornamental use. This 
operation of shaving its tail was quite unique (and would take some time to 
describe), and was never performed by a common person. 
The flesh of the dog was not only deemed a dainty but it was also a tapu 
(or sacred) dish. A dog was always killed for the priest to eat on perform- 
ing certain tapu or religious ceremonies over the children of chiefs, and on 
other great and formal occasions; also as food for the tohunga-taa-moko, or 
tattooer, when operating on chiefs. Hence, as a large number were con- 
tinually needed to meet these requirements, the increase was kept under. 
The skins, when flayed, were cleaned and stretched in a hollow frame, and 
then hung up in the wind to dry gradually, protected from the sun, rain, 
* The New Zealander has different words to describe the cry of the old and of the 
new or more recent dog. The former is called and written ao ao, and au au ; the latter, 
tau tau, and sometimes haru, and pahu pahu. 
