The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-01-04

colored fish about eight inches in length.
The hsh cleaned with irridescence.
red, blue, purple and golden tinta
flashing from every portion a. the
bright sunlight played upon it. Tho fisher
man held his prize carefully, and as he
said "Listen!' I heard . very audible
..cr-o-i-k-k!s then Notwithstanding
.Ah," said my companion, holding the
fish up as if it was q child, ''you want to go
back, do you9'
"Cr-o.i-k-kv' uttered the fish, that ! no.
ticed was rolling its eyes in a most doleful
=
..This hook must hurt" continued the
fisherman, as he endeavored to detach 1T
f,on tho thin skin of the mouth.
.tCr-o-i XIX! cr-o-i-k-k" again uttered
the fish, rolling its syss wildly and bending
its body.
'It's bad LUCK 10 throw a dsh back" SOL
iloquized the csptor. s.
s'Cr-o-i-k.k!" began the fish.
s.But, bless my heart, l can't resist this"
added the fisherman, and with a toss he
threw the fish back into its native element
And YETI said my companion, rebaiting
his hook, 'they say fishss can not talk. II
that little fellow was not pleading for his
life l should like to have some one explain
what he WAS doing"
I did not attempt to differ with him, as
whilo ! did not care to confess it in public
I entertained very much the same idea.
which was that all animals that utter
sounds use them more or less to express
their emotions, wants and desires.
This little fish, the talker as We chose to
call it, was one of the very common fishes
of the gulf and fossnd way up the coast,
known there as the Rrunt, while in the dry
books of sciences it appears as the haemu-
lon. sH-
In months. OF years, spent on this great
reef / became very we'll acquainted with
the grunt family, and If l must confess 1t.
lieved l understood What the takers said.
This was before the days of the phono-
grarh: but il I had possessed one Of The
instruments, and could have held some of
my talking fishes mp to it I am confident
that I could have surprised some of the
young folks who read this article; II may
havs been my imagination, but l fancied
that the sounds, instead of being all alike,
varied in different fish. and that I could
distinguish a number OF fish words. Be
this as it may. although ths grunts were
always caught when ! was fishing for other
ana larger game L tOOk Gu0u I'LL GA0 AOOA
as carefully Rs I could and returned them
to the water; SO that in this instance their
voice, If such it can be called, served them
we'll.
A large number of fishes utter sounds. I
we'll remember being startled upon one oc-
casion by a small shark, or dog-6sh, which
] had hauled into my boat while fishing for
cod off the New England coast. The fish had
made its way under my seat and suddenly
uttered a bark or g%utteral sound SO similar
to that Of q dog that I was startled and
made SO vigorous amovementtha my COM
panion-a professional fisherman smiled
ana remarked, if thsy, did not bark what
was The use Of calling them doR-fsh! The
sound was repeated every time I touched
the fish and was a sharp, distinct bark.
Upon other occasions I have heard a num-
Der of fishes utter a similar sound, notably
the progy. which, when I held it up to cut
out tho hook. uttered such a chorus of
sounds that there could be no doubt that
the fish was in great distress. The gizzard-