The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1903-01-06
EAT THE DEVIL FISH
Hawaiians Consider II a Toothsome
Article of Diet.
In the Bahamas and Bermgdas fhe
Ugly Sea- Monster Es Much
Sought for .hy
FfsheFmem-

In few things does man show bis
perennial curiosity more than in his
patient and often enthusiastic investi-
cations into the question of eating.
There hardly is anything in the animal.
vegetable and mineral kingdoms which
some human being has not tried to eat
at some time or another
Now that we have taken up the white
mans burden. the United States prob
ably has within its possessions wider
range of gastrOnomic attainment than
is boosted by any other nation in the
world In Georgia there are clay eat
ers. In the island of Mindanao we have
man eaters. In Alaska they have been
eating dog with abandon and loud cries
of '.More.. Some of our Indian wards
dote on dried and mashed grasshoppers.
Our Chinese squatters eat sharks fins
and birds nests. But. aside from the
diet of roast and boiled man. which is
more an eccentricity than studied ac
QUESTION of taste, the queerest appetite
is in our Hawaiian possessions. where
poi and devil fish are the deIieacies that
can lure the duslzy and palpitating per-
sons of those ATTITUDES from home and
mother
Poi is well known now. 1t has been
described often, though paryingly
Some writer's of delicate sensibilities
have not mentioned that which grosser
writers have described most lovingly:
the process of chewing which the root
undergoes before it is considered fit for
poi.
Emphatically. poi is something that
is edible only if you do not know how
it has been made.
However. poi is not as curious as devil
fish To the unprejudiced observer
there is nothing dangerously tempting
in devil fish The face of the devil
fish is not his fortune 1t is fat face
with beak in the middle an6ftwo
staring. fat fend's goggles that make
/ the little waves break when he looks
at them This pleasing countenance is
made fast from behind TO gray. ghost
IL bag Ike the bloated body of spider.
Eight arms complete the engaging tout
ensemble.
Still, ugly as he is, even the devil fish
has friends. though they are only de
signing friends. who like him better
I when he is inside of them than other
wise. To get him into this likezble con-
/ ditiOn there are various methods In
the Bahamas and in Bermuda the gen
1 tie and unindustrious eolored fisherman
lets his boat float slowly over the coral
J - L II. Al
or the big eyes of one of the creatures
Then he gently sticks long pole with
a sharp hook at the end Of it into the
water and lowers 1t till il is in front OF
the devil fish's submarine villa Then
the devil fish gets angry. being of a
ehoIeric and infirm temper always. and
he grabs the stick The hook grabs the
devil fish. and he is hauled into the boat
where he usually tries TO eat the darky
Failing in this. he gives way TO lively
grief, and presses his large. expressive
face TO the bottom Of the boat. arrang
ing his eight arms IN graceful circle
all around his body till he looks ike :
tentacled Niobe
In Hawaii they fish for the octopu:
Z
piece of wood about five or six inches
long. On the upper side is spliced {
piece of mother of pearl. and below il
a piece of lead. Two short prongs o.
brass are fastened to the other end o.
the stick Octopus. who is as inuplsiy'
as he is chemically belligerent and hun
CRY. darts at this continuance as sooI
as he sees it play in the water, and th'
end is the fish market and pOi-hneC
grave in the dark interior of a Hawaiian
stomach
The devil fish that are caught in Hs
waiian waters do not attain the enor
nous size that is reached BY the spe
cies in other seas, out fairly large ones
are caught every little while and tbs
fishermen don't like to tackle a big Ons
in the harbor of Honolulu any mors
than they do in other waters.
In China the plucly fishermen JUMP
overheard when they catch an octopu:
in their nets. In Bermuds waters M
darky can be persuaded to take the col
lector out to hunt big devil fish Thel
viii 20 after the little fellows. but the
are in deadly fear OF any that are abov'
the average in size
The octopus and the squid, first eous
ms to each other. both have q pleasan
habit Of ejeeting an inly fiuid-sepia-
from their bzg-bOdies when they ar
alarmed or attacked. This fluid is -
thick and strongly tinted that tbs
water becomes absolutely Opaque TO
many yards around the spot. and. GOV
cred by his homemade darkness, thI
devil fish escapes his enemies.-N. Y
Press.