1 54 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



au," although the enraged chief kept his own hand tightly on his mouth, so 

 that the dog's cry should not be heard by that outlet. The young men, 

 however, hearing it, returned to their father and told him of it, and soon 

 reprisals began, and a desolating war followed, which ended in a migration 

 to New Zealand ! 



Another famed dog was in the canoe of another lot of emigrants from 

 Hawaild, led by the chief Manaia. On its way to New Zealand, the dog, 

 scenting the land before it could be seen, and a dead whale that had been 

 cast on shore, sprang overboard, and swam howling towards the land ; the 

 canoe followed all that evening and night, guided only by the cries of the 

 dog, and so not only reached the land in safety, but also came in for a 

 feast on the stranded whale, — and more good things afterwards. 



Another strange dog legend is told of Irawaru, who was brother-in-law 

 to the famed demigod Maui — the hero who, among several other equally 

 strange adventures, fished up the North Island of New Zealand, and 

 caused the sun to travel more reasonably through space for the benefit of 

 man. The story is too long to relate here, but I may just say that Irawaru 

 had displeased Maui, who, getting him unsuspectingly into his power, 

 pulled his ears upwards and his back-bone out, so as to form a tail, and 

 then transformed him into a dog ! Cruelly sending his sister, on her 

 enquiring after her husband in the evening, in ignorance of what had 

 happened, to call him by the usual dog-call of " Moi, mo'i," which the poor 

 newly-metamorphosed dog plaintively answered ; on which the wife com- 

 mitted suicide by throwing herself into the sea. Hence, it is that Irawaru 

 is said to be the father or precursor of all dogs. 



In conclusion, I will merely add that it is my conviction that, hereafter, 

 several of these things I have here brought forward will prove to be of 

 service, trifling as some of them may at first sight appear to be, for, a]part 

 from the few concluding myths and legends, they are all facts. Facts, 

 realities, respecting the ancient New Zealand dog (we have no more !). And 

 these may tend towards elucidating the origin of the New Zealanders. And 

 let it never be forgotten, particularly by such an institution as ours, that 

 facts, faithfully recorded facts, however small in themselves, are not only 

 stubborn things, but are sure to become useful. Science is still seeking to 

 know of the origin of the New Zealanders, and of their so-called migrations 

 hither ; and here, in much of what I have compiled and written and laid 

 before you is food for the reflective mind ; indications which may yet prove 

 of service. Further : it has often been thoughtlessly said, that because (in 

 some parts of the north of this island) the dog was also called pero and 

 peropero-^' by the natives, therefore it v/as introduced into this country by 



* The New Zealanders have several common names for the dog, as kararehe, Icirehe, 

 Icuri, pero, ]pero]pero, ;pa;pe, and moi — though this last wovd is more properly the call for a 

 dog. 



