Polynesian Dog — Luomala 
217 
like their owners, chiefly on vegetables. The 
aboriginal food is still considered a delicate food, 
even by the chiefs highest in rank and most 
civilised in their habits. Europeans who have 
sufficiently overcome their prejudice to indulge 
in this native luxury, assured me that the flesh 
of the poe dog, cooked in the primitive manner, 
bears close resemblance to lamb, and is con- 
sequently a dish that few who have tasted would 
despise. 
In Honolulu, October, 1835, Bennett writes 
(1840, I: 216), "A hut, called by foreigners 
the 'native hotel,’ has also been opened as an 
eating house for the same class of people; and 
here, it is not uncommon to see a skinned dog 
suspended invitingly at the door, to denote what 
dainties may be had within, in the same manner 
as a turtle or a haunch of venison is occasionally 
exhibited at restaurateur establishments in Lon- 
don.” 
Later while visiting Timor, Bennett writes 
(1840, II: 109) that the "swine, dogs, and 
domestic fowls found on all the Polynesian 
groups, and apparently coeval with man in their 
existence on those lands, betray much of an 
Asiatic origin.” 
L. J. Litzinger, in his summary of the binomial 
classifications of the domesticated dogs of the 
world, includes Polynesian native dogs (1867: 
382, 400-401, 499, 520, 528-529, 817 ) . He dis- 
tinguishes seven basic types of dogs in the world 
and puts the Polynesian dogs, which he divides 
into two breeds, with the pariah dog ( Canis 
domesticus indicus ) . The two breeds, he states, 
derive through acclimatization in Polynesia of 
the Asiatic large pariah dog that ancestors of 
the Polynesians brought with them into the 
Pacific. This recalls the fact that in 1827 Peter 
Dillon (1829, I: 254) writes that in New Zea- 
land "They have a breed of dogs peculiar to the 
island, and much resembling the Pariah dog of 
India and which is considered as furnishing a 
most delicate dish.” Because Litzinger (1867: 
528) regards the pariah and the pomeranian as 
derived from the ancestral type of house dog 
and as sharing many resemblances, it is of in- 
terest that in 1793, more than 20 years after 
Cook had brought native dogs to Tonga tabu, 
Labillardiere (1800: 128) says that the dog 
there "is commonly of a fallow color, small and 
pretty near resembling the Pomeranian dog.” 
Others, in later times, also liken the native dogs, 
especially in New Zealand, to pariah dogs and 
pomeranians (Thomson, 1922). 
The following is Litzinger’s material relating 
to the Polynesian dog. 
1. Canis domesticus, indicus Novae-Zeelan- 
diae. Included are the New Zealand dog de- 
scribed by George Forster (1778, I: 165); 
Canis familiaris villaticus , novae Zeelandiae of 
Walther (1817: 23); Canis otahitensis of 
Reichenbach (1836: 46, figs. 573-575); Canis 
familiaris orthotus of Reichenbach ("Naturg. 
Raubth.,” 141, figs. 573-575) ; the New Zealand 
dog of Smith (1845: 211, 296); Canis aus- 
tralis of Youatt (1846: 32-43; cited is only a 
German edition of Youatt, p. 26); and Canis 
familiaris otahitensis of Giebel (1859: 844). 
Fitzinger (1867: 529) considers that this 
New Zealand dog, which he believes has obvious 
characteristics of the large pariah dog {Canis 
domesticus , indicus ) , undoubtedly is a variation 
of it. The slight differences in its bodily traits 
inevitably arose, he suggests, from its acclima- 
tization in New Zealand on being brought from 
the Asiatic mainland and the East Indies. The 
differences are the smaller size, the blunter 
muzzle, and the more elongated body of the 
New Zealand dog as compared with the pariah 
dog. The color is mostly a solid rusty-red, black, 
or white, but also commonly spotted, the white 
ground color being covered with irregular black 
or rusty-red spots of various sizes, particularly 
on the cheeks around the eyes and ears. 
2. Canis domesticus, indicus taitiensis, the 
Tahitian dog, found in the Hawaiian and So- 
ciety islands, has only minor differences from 
the New Zealand dog, its closest relatives. Like 
it, Fitzinger states (1867: 529) , acclimatization 
in Polynesia has led to slight variations from 
the ancestral large pariah dog. Of a smaller size 
than the New Zealand dog, the Tahitian dog 
resembles the crooked-legged dachshund ( C. 
vertagus ), Fitzinger continues, in its somewhat 
more elongated body and shorter legs, of which 
the forelegs are not completely straight but seem 
somewhat crooked. The color is solidly brownish 
or rusty-gold. This, to Fitzinger, is the dog de- 
scribed by George Forster for the Society Islands 
(1778, 1: 286); Canis familiaris villaticus, meri- 
dionalis of Walther (1817: 23); Reichenbach’s 
