Hector.—On the Remains of a Dog found by Captain Rowan, 247 
Section of the Cliff, showing the Position of the Tree which contained the 
Dog's Skeleton. 
a Red friable loam with about 10 inches of black soil on top. 9 feet. 
VAT p Sandy clay with imbedded remains. 2 feet, 
c Lignite and clay mixed. 4 feet 6 inches, 
| d Soft sandstone. 8 inches. 
e Plastic blue clay. 3 feet. 
f Sand and gravel. 5 feet, 
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g Blue marlstone, about 15 feet. 
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“ This sketch is intended to show the stratification of the face of the 
cliff in which is imbedded the hollow tree (a), in which were found the 
remains herewith, at a depth of nineteen feet two inches from the surface. 
** The situation is on Captain Good's farm, and about half a mile on the 
town side of the Urenui river. As may be seen, the tree lies in the surface 
of the sixth distinct stratum from the ground level. It is hollow and the 
bones, hair, ete., now exhibited, were found in the hollow and closely 
imbedded in sand, clay, and decayed wood. The flax stick and flax fibre 
were rather further in than the bones themselves, and the log continues 
hollow into the cliff for more than twelve feet.” 
From the evidence adduced in the foregoing remarks it is not very clear 
to my mind that the dog may not have been buried in the hole made by the 
hollow tree imbedded in the cliff; or may it not have crawled into it from 
the top of the landslip that has since come away, but which may formerly 
have been on a level with the tree as shown in the section. The lignite- 
bearing beds along the top of the cliff, north of Taranaki, though belonging 
to a very late geological period, are, nevertheless, of great antiquity, and 
the staté of preservation of the bones, as compared with the thorough 
alteration that the vegetable matter of the lignite has undergone, inclines me 
to believe that the dog remains are of modern origin. 
But even in that case, the circumstances under which they have been 
found, and the decayed state of the dentine layer of the teeth tend to refer 
them to a period further back than any previously obtained. 
The comparison of the skull with the other specimens is, therefore, 
interesting, and shows that in all the specimens of the Maori dog now 
before us, there is evidence that they belong to one common breed, 
which has been even more specialized from the wild dog—such as the dingo 
—than any of our most intelligent and finest-bred domesticated dogs. 
