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PACIFIC SCIENCE, VoL XIV, July I960 
New Zealand dog is in the first two classifica- 
tions and may be in the third, but Smith is not 
clear upon this point. A search of zoological 
indices has not revealed "C. Pacificus, Nob.” 
among new species, or any productive clue either 
to the identity of the natural scientist whose 
name is abbreviated as "Nob.” or to the location 
of his original description. The classification 
continues to be cited, however, probably second- 
arily from Smith (Davis, 1949: 12). 
Under Canes jeri, Smith lists wolf dogs, watch 
dogs, greyhounds, hounds, cur dogs (terrier, 
Lapland cur, pariah dog, poi dog, New Zealand 
dog, Patagonian dog, Tierra del Fuego dog), 
and mastiffs. His second classification "Canis 
tenarius — Canes Domesticii” he describes as 
being below middle size in height and having 
a round head, pointed muzzle, erect ears, large 
and prominent eyes, and the characteristics of 
being sagacious, noisy, and watchful, and sep- 
arable into three distinct species. He includes 
here terriers, pariahs, poi dogs, New Zealand 
dogs, and the Patagonian and Fuegian dogs. 
His third classification of the poi dog is Canis 
Pacificus, Nob. His two classifications of the 
dingo, by the way, are Chaon Australiae and 
Chryseus Australiae. 
Smith is vague about his sources. He men- 
tions J. R. Forster as describing the New Zea- 
land dog as short and with a tufted tail, a very 
large head, small eyes, and pointed ears. George 
Forster, it will be recalled, writes of the Society 
islanders feeding pigs breadfruit paste (poe) 
called mahei. Smith refers to "Frederick Ben- 
net” (sic) in connection with the poi dog but 
he has obviously drawn on more than Bennett’s 
book, as we shall see. 
Some of Smith’s data may come from King’s 
account, which likens the Hawaiian dog to the 
turnspit. Both Crozet and Captain Cook com- 
pare the New Zealand dogs with fox-dogs. Rev- 
erend William Ellis (1853, IV: 347) compares 
Hawaiian and Tahitian dogs with terriers. The 
Hawaiian dogs that Ellis saw in 1819 were "of 
rather a small size, and something like a ter- 
rier.” Tahitian dogs were "usually of a small 
or middle size and appear a kind of terrier breed, 
but were by no means ferocious; and excepting 
their shape and habits, they have few of the 
characteristics of the English dog. This probably 
arises from their different food. . . .” Smith’s 
description of the dog’s tail as being straight or 
slightly curled is absent in earlier accounts. I 
cannot locate his source, but Hawaiian petro- 
glyphs portray dogs with slightly curved tails 
(see Fig. 22). Another possible source Smith 
might have been familiar with is George Dixon’s 
description (1789: 266) in September, 1787, 
of the Hawaiian dogs as appearing "to be of 
the cur kind, dull and heavy; they have sharp 
pointed ears projecting toward the nose.” (See 
Figs. 13, 14, 15.) 
F. D. Bennett, one of Smith’s sources, was a 
fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, who 
between 1833 and 1936 travelled around the 
world to study sperm whales. Although he really 
says very little about the dog from his own ob- 
servations, he is one of the few scientists writing 
about Pacific dogs who has actually seen one, 
dead or alive, mixed or unmixed in breed. After 
mentioning the pig, he writes (1840, I: 86), 
"The aboriginal dog has also merged into a 
mongrel breed. The Tahitians formerly consid- 
ered a dog, fed on vegetable food, a delicate 
dish; and although the impairment of the purity 
of the breed, and the prejudices of Europeans, 
have done much to abolish this state, it is still 
not unfrequently indulged.” Although he gives 
no references, a phrase like "delicate dish” is 
reminiscent of the journals of the Cook expedi- 
tions. In a later description his comparing of 
dog meat with lamb and calling it a dish not to 
be despised recalls Cook’s famous description of 
how to cook a Tahitian dog for the table. Later 
culinary adventurers often echo Cook’s evalua- 
tion of the meat although Vancouver ( 1798, 
III: 61) varies it, after a meal with King Kame- 
hameha I, by comparing the meat with mutton. 
Bennett’s list of the physical traits of the 
Hawaiian dog recalls, at least in part, King’s 
description. Bennett writes (1840, I: 246): 
The indigenous and exotic quadrupeds resemble 
those at the Society group. The aboriginal, or 
poe dog, characterised by its small size, brown 
colour, foxy head, long back, crooked or bandy 
fore-legs, and sluggish disposition, is now a rare, 
and will probably be soon an extinct species — 
lost amidst a mongrel race of dogs partaking of 
every foreign variety. All classes of canines are 
favourites with the natives, who never kill them 
wantonly or treat them cruelly. They subsist. 
