NOTHING LIKE OBSERVATION. 45 



to the fly, I have seen the sahnon seize the latter 

 with a snap as sharp as that of my lady's Blenheim, 

 disturbed from its fire-rug siesta by the buzzing 

 beneath its nose of some reckless house-fly. When 

 working the fly, my guide, perched above me on a 

 rock, has given me notice of a fish following the 

 fly, and trying to seize it. I would then gently 

 lower the point of the rod, or give a little line oflf 

 the winch with my hand, and I very often had the 

 satisfaction of feeling a tug under water that in- 

 duced me to make a successful little pull in an 

 opposite direction. 



There is nothing like observation. Let the 

 learner place himself on an elevated spot, and over- 

 look the actions of a brother salmon-fisher. He will 

 see how the cast is performed; he will see the fly 

 alight on the water, and sink a little into it ; he 

 will then see it worked through the water, he 

 will see the exact form it assumes whilst being 

 so worked, and the rate of speed communicated to 

 it. He will see that if it be worked rapidly, its 

 wings and fibres will be nearly always in a state 

 of collapse, and will wonder at the contraction of 

 its size, and he will be amazed at the darting rapi- 

 dity of its onward progress. If he understand rea- 

 soning by induction, he will conclude at once 

 that sharp working of the fly is wrong — unna- 



