362 TROUT AND ANGLING. 



ganged upon silk-worm gut, must be at hand to 

 repair losses, as well as shot previously split. 

 Short casting lines will be necessary only in case 

 of using a small red or gaudy fly, of which a slight 

 stock should also be provided. The meshes of 

 the landing net should be small, for the purpose 

 not only of landing, or it may be said dipping up 

 the fish, but also for catching the live bait. If the 

 net is carried as recommended in fly-fishing, un- 

 der the left arm, the fish should be unhooked over 

 it, so that if it happens to drop, it will drop into the 

 net and not into the water. A japaned box is 

 strapped round the waist, with apartments for the 

 two kinds of bait. The winch and line are the 

 same as that described for fly-fishing. The pock- 

 et book is well supplied with materials to refit, re- 

 pair, and replenish, and the basket, if not carried 

 upon the back, is left in a convenient situation 

 near the edge of the water. 



There have been incredible numbers of trout 

 taken at the celebrated point to which we more 

 particularly refer ; hundreds, and perhaps we may 

 say thousands every year, nor is it perceived, on 

 the whole, that they are diminished in proportion. 

 From particular causes, however, generally attrib- 

 utable to the state of the weather, there are sea- 

 sons of scarcity ; as a proof of this, we may men- 

 tion the circumstance which happened a few years 



