MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: THREE ODDITIES-MYSTERY INDIAN BEAR,ODD HAWAII FISH,WOLVES IN HONG KONG

Friends, here is a selection of cryptids from English language Hong Kong newspapers, which I found whilst looking for mysteries in Hong Kong.Well, I found one Hong Kong item out of three! When I say these are cryptids, that is not strictly true. I don`t know whether or not the fish and the bear are new to science,but on the off chance they were or are I include them anyway. Wolves were reported from Hong Kong during the construction of the Kowloon-Canton Railway (1905-1910) but Jon believes these were dholes. I have e-mailed a University in Hawaii and the Bishop Museum about the fish.

Here we go….A STRANGE ANIMAL

This from The Hong Kong Telegraph July 1902.

The Kulu [now in N. India-R] correspondent of the Lahore paper writes thus of a mysterious wild beast that is haunting the neighbourhood:- “The, as yet unidentified animal in the south-west part of the valley, keeps on breaking open cowsheds and killing cattle, and a party of Rohilla sepoys have been sent from Mundi with orders to shoot it. Its latest iniquity was to drag the carcass of a bullock all around the precincts of temple, and eat it on the very temple steps. The natives declare that when attacked by dogs, it gets rid of its assailants in a very ingenious manner by pelting them with pieces of beef and while the dogs,which are generally half starved, are enjoying this most unexpected and extremely welcome supper, it makes good its escape. Wood cutters state that, on more than one occasion, they have come across an entirely new kind of beast in the jungles- a very large bear,head, body and hindquarters black, chest,forelegs and belly brown, like a red bear. If this is true, it looks like a cross between the black and brown bears, a hybrid I have never heard of before. Another woodman`s story that he saw this half caste attacked simultaeneously by two black bear`s, both of which it killed by knocking them over the “khud”! (1)

A QUEER FISH Circular Silver Body and Red Snout.

From The China Mail May 1922

A fish of a species hitherto unknown to science, caught by a Japanese fisherman 13 miles off shore at a depth of 1,200 ft is on exhibition at Honolulu and is exciting great interest.

The specimen weighs 150lb and is flat and almost circular. Silver predominates in the colouring of its body, with its fins and snout of scarlet, and the dorsal,about 18 inches long, spotted with white. The head is mottled with dark grey and black, and the eyes are round and about 4 inches in diameter.

DR C.H. Edmondson, ichthyologist at the University of Hawaii says that the specimen is not classified in any available scientific work. The fish will be presented to the Bishop Museum in Honolulu (2)

WILD DOG STALKS EUROPEAN WALKER IN TYTAM VALLEY. * Wolf-Like Creature May Breed Pack With Mate

The Hong Kong Telegraph February 1938

An alarming experience is reported by a resident of the Colony who went for a walk in the Tytam Valley yesterday evening, which suggested that an Alsatian dog has run wild on the island and is by way of becoming what is known as a “killer”. In fact, it is possible that there are two of these animals, perhaps male and female, and if this is so, and they breed, the prospects are disturbing……” I had a very clear view of the animal: it appeared to be a wolf in every respect, but as I know there are not supposed to be wolves on the island I decided it was an Alsatian. Its slinking manner, unkempt coat and the fact that it had not even a collarshowed that it was a stray, probably run wild. This wild trait was almost immediately afterwards proved in an alarming manner.”Hardly had the brute vanished from sight than I heard a rustling coming from among the thick undergrowth on the bank on my left hand side…….Recently villagers in Aberdeen and Little Hong Kong [ in the `30s these were small fishing communities on the south side of Hong Kong island not far from Tytam-R] complained that pigs had been killed by some large animal there.

“Is a pair, and potential pack, of wild Alsatians, in every way as dangerous as wolves, hunting the Tytam-Deep Water Bay-Little Hong Kong area? If so, the animals should be destroyed as soon as possible. Incidentally, there has been a noticeable dearth of wild barking-deer in that vicinity these past few months, compared with previously, and the explanation seems obvious!” (3)

1 The Hong Kong Telegraph July 30th 1902.
2 The China Mail May 24th 1922
3 The Hong Kong Telegraph February 3rd 1938.


TURNING JAPANESE

THE VAPORS

( I am not a racist, I`m fond of the Japanese, after all they found the above mentioned fish in 1922 and a plesiosaurus, oops, sorry chums, a basking shark in 1977…!)

I`ve got your picture of me and you
You wrote “ I love you” I wrote “me too”
I sit there staring and there`s nothing else to do
Oh it`s in the color
Your hair is brown
Your eyes are hazel
And soft as clouds
I often kiss you when there`s no one else around

I`ve got your picture, I`ve got your picture,
I`d like a million of you all `round myself
I want a doctor, to take a picture,
So I can look at you from inside as well,
You`ve got me turning up and turning down
I`m turning in I`m turning round

I`m turning Japanese
I think I`m turning Japanese
I really think so…etc,