i 50 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



It remains for me to show what I have been able to glean from the old 

 New Zealauders, durhig the comse of many years' residence and enquu-y, 

 ■ concerning their ancient dog, now a creature of the past, equally so with 

 the 77ioa 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 2^a 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 loekas 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, squatthig 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-haned 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 tajm 

 (or sacred) dish. A dog was always killed for the priest to eat on perform- 

 ing certain ta^nt or religious ceremonies over the childi'en of chiefs, and on 

 other great and formal occasions ; also as food for the toJtunga-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 an ; the latter, 

 tail tail, and sometimes liaru, smd j^tahti iiahu. 



