Re: 7 Words That Dogs Can Understand (And 4 That No Dog Can)

On 3/17/2025 4:48 AM, J. J. Lodder wrote:

Ross Clark <benlizro@ihug.co.nz> wrote:
 

On 16/03/2025 10:15 p.m., J. J. Lodder wrote:

Ross Clark <benlizro@ihug.co.nz> wrote:
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On 16/03/2025 2:19 a.m., J. J. Lodder wrote:

Ross Clark <benlizro@ihug.co.nz> wrote:
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On 14/03/2025 11:05 p.m., J. J. Lodder wrote:

Peter Moylan <peter@pmoylan.org> wrote:
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On 14/03/25 15:28, Ross Clark wrote:

>
A little crossroads called Tirau (NZ) has a Big Dog (the tourist
information office) and a couple of Big Sheep (a souvenir shop), all
in corrugated iron. There's also a Shepherd, but he's not to scale,
and not in typical NZ costume. (He's in front of a church.)
>
https://www.dreamstime.com/photos-images/tirau-town.html

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Nicely done.
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When I visited Fiji I noticed that corrugated iron is a highly valued
construction material. I guess the native wood is unsuitable for
building, and maybe the clay is not the right sort for bricks.

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Guess they don't have any.
You need glaciers for grinding rock to sand and clay.

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This can't be right. There is clay suitable for pottery in Fiji and many
other Pacific islands where there have never been glaciers.

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Mud is probably a more appropriate description.

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No, it's clay.
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I doubt the suitability for good bricks and ceramics.

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Fine. It wasn't a question about what you'd consider "good", but
whether your grand generalization about clay was correct.
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   > (probably more appropriately called earthenware)
"Ceramics", "pottery" and "earthenware" would all be appropriate.
>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceramic
https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/1766/lapita-pottery
https://collections.qm.qld.gov.au/objects/CH37961/pot
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Importing timber and bricks would be hellishly expensive, I guess.

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They've got timber. Wood and leaves were traditional house-building
materials, after all.

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Of a kind. Anything better than palm trees?

Yes. Your comments suggest you don't know much about this part of the
world.

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Isn't knowing that it is all volcanic in origin enough?
And (sub)tropical.
As for clay, this is what is commonly understood as 'clay' minerals.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_mineral>
Volcanic rock otoh is something different.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_rock>
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AFAIK quality timber needs to be importd.
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Corrugated-iron houses are built on a timber frame.
Bricks? Really no point. People who can afford a fancier European-style
house will move up to concrete (with a corrugated-iron roof).

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Which must be imported in bulk too.
(and be 'hellishly expensive')

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Less expensive than bricks.

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Certainly. As for quality,
Cpt. Cook already noted the nothing that grows there
can serve as replacement spars.
(something Royal Navy captains were always on the lookout for)
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They did note that New Zealand was much better,
in that respect,

>
So young kauri suited Cook better for spars than anything he had seen in
the islands. Meanwhile, the people who lived there seem to have found
something from which to make canoes (with masts, outriggers, paddles, etc.).
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https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/2213/tongiaki-in-tongatapu-tonga
(This one's by a Dutchman, so you can believe it.)
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https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/2212/canoe-of-otahaite

 The Dutch discoverors of those islands did note that those canoes
were faster, and could sail closer to the wind than their much heavier
ships. The Maori ones were bigger still.
(because in New Zeland they had better woods at their disposal)
 

https://theglobalhistorypodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/13-1769-tupaia-

longhouse-and-canoes-in-tahiti-e1621228487342.jpg

>
https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/2209/a-fijian-ndrua

 If you want history, it all started here,
about 10 000 years ago.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesse_canoe>

One of my favorite bits of forgotten history is that the same culture
which peopled the vast Pacific also sailed west, and were the first
people to reach Madagascar. The Malagasy language is related to
Hawaiian.
pt