THE COMPLETE ANGLER 319 



bush, you shall do more execution than at almost any 

 other time of the year with any other fly ; though one 

 may sometimes hit of a day, when he shall come home 

 very well satisfied with sport with several other flies : 

 but with these two, the GREEN-DRAKE and the STONE- 

 FLY, I do verily believe I could, some days in my life, had 

 I not been weary of slaughter, have loaden a lusty boy ; 

 and have sometimes, I do honestly assure you, given over 

 upon the mere account of satiety of sport ; which will 

 be no hard matter to believe, when I likewise assure you, 

 that with this very fly, I have in this very river that runs 

 by us, in three or four hours taken thirty, five and thirty, 

 and forty cf the best trouts in the river. What shame 

 and pity it is then, that such a river should be destroyed 

 by the basest sort of people, by those unlawful ways of 

 fire and netting in the night, and of damming, groping, 

 spearing, hanging, and hooking by day, which are now 

 grown so common, that, though we have very good laws 

 to punish such offenders, every rascal does it, for aught I 

 see, impune. 



To conclude, I cannot now in honesty but frankly tell 

 you, that many of these flies I have named, at least so 

 made as we make them here, will peradventure do you no 

 great service in your southern rivers ; and will not conceal 

 from you, but that I have sent flies to several friends 

 in London, that for aught I could ever hear, never did 

 any great feats with them ; and therefore if you intend 

 to profit by my instructions, you must come to angle 

 with me here in the Peak ; and so, if you please, let us 

 walk up to supper, and to-morrow, if the day be windy, 

 as our days here commonly are, 'tis ten to one but we 

 shall take a good dish of fish for dinned 



