8 The North Country Angler. 



This makes a very strong and beautiful snood; 

 and if you choose to wrap, instead of knotting 

 them, they make as fine a line as I would desire 

 to fish with. 



When I make a line of these plaits, which are 

 all of them a little taper, I put three or four of 

 twelve hairs at the top, and three or four of nine, 

 lower down, and two or three of eight or seven 

 at the small end, for strong fishing, and wrap 

 them with white silk, waxed with white shoe- 

 maker's wax, the wrapping scarce an inch long, 

 which I make thus : After I have dipped near 

 half an inch of the ends in melted wax, I divide 

 them into three, and put them together as sailors 

 splice their ropes \ then I wrap twice about the 

 line above the splice, and the same at the other 

 end of it, drawing the silk very tight and strong : 

 At each end of every line I make a loop of an 

 inch long, neatly wrapt, or a knot at the top. 

 My angler is to take notice, that I never twist 

 with my engine a less number than six hairs ; 

 all under I plait with my fingers, keeping the 

 hairs from crossing one another with the thumb 

 and fingers of my left hand ; and when I have 

 plaited it over once, before I make a knot at the 

 smaller end, I draw it all along from the knot 

 between my finger and thumb, and then plait it 

 gently over again, to make the hairs lie closer 

 and smoother ; and he must likewise remember, 

 that in a plait of five hairs, I put the small ends 

 of two hairs to the root end of the three ; and in 

 a plait of four, I either put two of them with the 

 small ends to the thick ends of the other two, 

 or, however, turn one of them to make the line 

 more taper, and do the same in a plait of three : 



