Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1907-10-25
The HONLULU
Fish MARKET.
Something About The Workers Of the
BFiDy Deep.
an INTERESTING LETTER.

one runs across in travelling about
the world that are so strange that
one is diffident about telling OF
them for fear those to whom the
information is impaired will think
that the truth is being strained a
little. In such category must
come the fish market in Honolulu.
To people &C customed to seeing
fish of temperate waters there is
no comprehension of the strange
forms that the denizens of the
deep take on in those countries
where the water is continually
warm. When | first walked down
the aisles of the Honolulu fish
markell had to take a stedden
reel in ny memory to see if | had
been drinking anything recently
that would give one queer visions.
l did not exactly see blue monkey
with green tails, but | saw such
veriegated coloring and such i'm
possible shapes in fish that l
thought nv mind must have be-
come warped by the climate.
We are so accustomed to having
a certain shape in our minds when
fish are mentioned that we cannot
associate any other shape with the
fnny tribe, but that idea received
a severe jolt when | saw a trunk
fish lying on the counter, looking
all the world Ike a grotesque
japanese jewel box. Imagine a
fish about five inches long. with
square sides and ends. separated
BY sharp corners. At one end a
queer little snout surmounted by
two beady eyes. and at the other
a caricature of a tail, while two
little fins adorn the sides. If
your imagination is good you can
see in your minds eve a trunk
fish. 1t is not edible, but when
q it is taken in the net with other
kinds it is sent to market as a cur
iosity.
But the trunk is mild in compari.
son with the pupp1 eel. Take
the most loathsome, shiny snake
that you can conceive of, and in
place of a snake head put on it
the head of a new born puppy.
ears and all, and you will have an
object that will fill you with dis
gust. Hawaiians eat this sort of
animal with relish.
| could 90 on enumerating
queer and disgusting fish for some
time, but there are so many that
are beautiful beyond description
that | think they will be more in
teresting to YOU. That | conSid-
cred most beautiful of all | saw, 4
little fish about the size and, shape
of the common perch of American
waters. 1t was delicate pearl in
color, its flesh translucent, and at
intervals we're bands of blue.
green, yellow and gold, as perfect
in. color and size. as if they had
been laid on with artists brush.
They looked like the coloring of
finest Dresden china, and ran
around the body in perfect pro-
portion, equidistant from each
other. There we're fish entirely
blue. of color so rare as to make
one dream of summer skies: again
there were red ones, yellow ones.
black ones, all looking as if thew
we're hand painted, and as if the
color were so fresh that it would
come off if it were touched. I
thought at first that these were
painted china fish, used for signs,
and it was only when | held one
in my hands that | was convinced
to the contrary.
) On one table lay a lot of cutie
fish, younger brothers to the devil
fish. and from which the bone that
is put in canary bird cages comes.
Hawaiians prize this fish highly
and make amost palatable dish of
it by boiling it in coconut milk, II
k-L.1 - H. -