The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-07-09
10 TIE WRONG MAN.
Tho Fresh Young Man Tells Of the Char
tcristir. of TIM NTulivprnn

Tho Fresh Young Man Tells Of the Charao-
tcristics OF the NIuliygruD.
The fresh young man sat at the head
of the table He was eating a fish. A
red faced man dressed in a tweed suit
came in and was shown by the head wait
or to seat ON the left of the fresh young
man. The red faced man was an Eng
lishmau At least he had an English ac-
cent that sounded aS if it was his right
aud not by adoption. He gave the wait
er an ORDER and while he was waiting
he began talking with the fresh young
man.
Pardon me, " the red faced man be-
gan, but would you mind telling me
what kind of fish that is You are eat
ing?"
Certainly not" replied the fresh
young man bcamingly. This is a very
excellent specimen of what is known To-
cally rs the mullygrub 1t is II fiji h that
is found i'll great quantities in the shoal
waters Of Lake Erie, the lake ON the
shore of which this city stands, and, so
far as | know, is caught nowhere else.
The mullygrub is a remarkable fish. 1t
grows TO the length of two feet some
times, but is at its best for eating pur
/ poses when about 10 inches long. 1t is
delicately favored, many persons claim
/ ing that the flavor is that of an excel
lent champagne, while others insist that
il tastes of Medfurd rum. That point
has long been matter of local conten-
ton, but am reliably informed that in
the olden days the Indians who lived
originally in these parts distilled excel
lent rum from the fish, so l think the
rum partisans of today have rather the
best of it.
Indeed, " broke i'll the red faced man,
that is very astonishing.
"Oh, yes" continued the fresh
young man, "but it is not the most sur
prising thing about these fish. Their
greatest peculiarly is the manner in
which they are caught. 1t is utterly i'm
possible to take them with hook and
line. They will not bite at any bait yet
invented by man. Nor is it possible to
catch them with net. Their dorsal fins
: are sharper than knife blade, and
when caught i'll net they simply cut
their way out to liberty. For this rca-
son the fishermen do not cast net in
places where the mullygrub are known
to abound. The only way to catch these
fish is to hire German band to play
! the wedding march from 'Lohengrin'
while standing on the shore. So great
an admiration have these fish for the
music furnished by German bands and
for that one tune that they swim up to
shore and wriggle their way ont on the
sand. Then it is easy to gather them
up. That is the way the entire catch is
secured, and thus many worthy German
musicians are enabled to earn comforta-
BILE livings when otherwise they would
be obliged to walk around the streets
for an uncertain income, to say the
least. ="
How very extraordinary muir
INJURED the red faced man.
1T certainly is, went on the fresh
young man, 'but there is still another
habit of the mullygrub which is
unique The female mullygrub does not
have the roe common in fish Instead
she lays eggs which resemble the eggs
of robins being of pale blue, though
somewhat smaller. These eggs are de-
posted in the sand after midnight in
the full of the moon, and during days
/ when the sun is not shining the male
mullygrub sits on them to keep them
warm. The little mullygrubs are born
, with four legs, which they use to walk
E with into the water after they are hatch
, ed In three days these legs drop of
= and the fins appear.
b. Il can hardly believe it," said the
/ red faced man.
''Oh, yes; yes, indeed. What 1 hay,
told You can easily be verified anywhere
in Buffalo. Then again when the null
a lygrub reaches the age Of one year il
sheds its skin. 1t also has the faculty
of changing its color on occasion.
} have seen mullygrub, when i'll good
Z spirits, change rapidly from red to white
and then to blue and after that take
e on a combination of the three colors,
t with small patch of stars just where
the head joins the body. But is it pos
sible you have never heard of this Won
2 derful fish,"
S 1T certainly is, " replied the red faced
man.
May inquire where you live? You
j are an Englishman, are you not?"
mo, not exactly. was born in
England, but just at present l am en-.
t gagged in experimenting the large fish
Il hatchery recently established in Can.
ada.
And the fresh young man fainted.-
:. Buffalo Express.
Brilliant.