CHAPTER XIX. 



FISHING GEAR AND OTHER SMALL BEER. 



" The apparel oft proclaims the man." — Shakespeake. 



JrsT a few short words on the clothes most convenient to weal 

 when fishing in India, will add to the comfort of those that will 

 he troubled to read them. 



As you have already seen, you will have to do a good deal 

 of wading if you are at all keen about sport. But on no account 

 get waterproof wading stockings. First rate tilings though they 

 are in England, they are not at all wanted in India. I doubt if 

 they woidd keep good in India, I am quite sure they would be 

 unbearably hot in this climate, and, much though I have waded, 

 I never felt the want of any such protection in India; for the 

 water is not perish inylv cold, as in England, but comfortably 

 tepid, so that, if you make a rule never to be tempted to go in 

 over the fork, you will not be the worse for it. If you walk in 

 deepei, and stand in the water up to your stomach and vitals, 

 T will not be responsible for congestion of the liver, dysentery, 

 and all the rest of it. 



b'einembeiiim that you will be often in water up to the fork, 

 shorten your coat tails accordingly : and have your pockets high 

 and dry, or you will find, after landing a fish you have been 

 very intent on, and waded in to get at, that your fly book, or 

 some other valuable, has been thoroughly soaked the while. 



The stony bottom, with its rounded boulders, i- often \>r, 

 slippery, and, as you see the native naked foot slips less than a 

 shoe, you may be tempted to wear thin shoes, so as to give you the 

 better foot-hold. I tried thin racket shoes, but was very soon 

 convinced of my mistake. OndeT water you cai t alwaj 



