Polynesian Dog — Luomala 
201 
the same cry; they do not bark like our dogs. 
These animals are only fed on fish, and it ap- 
pears that the savages only raise them for food. 
Some were taken on board our vessels; but it 
was impossible to domesticate them like our 
dogs, they were always treacherous, and bit us 
frequently. They would have been dangerous 
to keep where poultry was raised or had to be 
protected; they would destroy them just like 
true foxes. 
The fourth primary describer of Polynesian 
dogs during the eighteenth century is Lieuten- 
ant King. After Cook’s death King’s journal was 
used to complete the official journal of the third 
expedition. Although King saw living native 
dogs in abundance before any known European 
contact had occurred with the Hawaiian Islands, 
which Cook’s third expedition discovered, his 
account was little known to taxonomists. With- 
out citing his source, F. L. Walther in 1817 
seems to be the first to use it. In King’s descrip- 
tion written in March, 1779, the interest shown 
in the causes of the peculiar behavior of the 
dogs perhaps reflects that of the Forsters. For 
the first time an observer mentions the achon- 
droplasic condition of the legs. Crozet appears 
to be the first to mention the long body. King 
writes (Cook, 1784, III: 118): 
The dogs are of the same species with those of 
Otaheite, having short crooked legs, long backs, 
and pricked ears. I did not observe any variety 
in them, except in their skins; some having long 
and rough hair, and others being quite smooth. 
They are about the size of a common turnspit; 
exceedingly sluggish in their nature, though 
perhaps this may be more owing to the manner 
in which they are treated than to any natural 
disposition in them. They are, in general, fed 
and left to herd with the hogs; and I do not 
recollect one instance in which a dog was made 
a companion, in the manner we do in Europe. 
Indeed, the custom of eating them is an in- 
superable bar to their admission into society; 
and, as there are neither beasts of prey in the 
island, nor objects of chase, it is probable that 
the social qualities of the dog, its fidelity, at- 
tachment, and sagacity, will remain unknown to 
the natives. The number of dogs in these islands 
did not appear to be nearly equal in proportion 
to those in Otaheite. . . . 
There are as many different descriptions of 
turnspits as there are describers, because "turn- 
spit” was the name for any dog in Europe or 
the British Isles that was taught to run around 
inside a treadmill wheel to work a roasting spit. 
Whether or not it was a distinctive breed, and 
if so, of what kind and of what ancestry, makes 
for an interesting argument. Some who consider 
it a distinctive breed identify it as a descendant 
of the short-legged pariah dog; others perhaps 
think only of a line of descendants of some 
capable and admired local turner of a roasting 
spit, whose pups were sought as likely to be 
equally teachable, capable, and physically suit- 
able. In general, a medium-sized, sturdy, teach- 
able dog was used. Sometimes the turnspit is 
described as having a long back, short legs, 
straight or crooked, and fur that was shaggy and 
sometimes spotted. An early English reference 
to mongrels that were trained to turn the spit 
or to dance to drums and a lyre is dated 1570 
(Davis, 1949: 34). The last was used in Wales 
and Germany about 1870, according to Vesey- 
Fitzgerald (1948: 728-729), who shows a 
sketch of a turnspit; when suitable dogs be- 
came scarce, a dog, which alternated with a com- 
panion, was paid about 6 d. a day at the most. 
PENNANT AND SOME EARLY 
GERMAN TAXONOMERS 
The famous "Third Edition” of Thomas Pen- 
nant’s History of Quadrupeds is the often un- 
acknowledged source used by later zoologists 
Fig. 6. Detail of dog in Figure 5. This is the best 
picture I have found of what seems to be a native 
Polynesian dog: long muzzle, oblique eyes, prick ears, 
large head, stocky body, short legs, scraggly tail, patchy 
color, coarse hair, with only the alert look alien to 
descriptions. 
