THE " HOENET " FLY. 325 



upon the river. The number of seals which I had seen 

 the previous evening induced me to take my rifle, with the 

 intention of having a little practice during the noonday 

 rest. The rocks in the estuary appeared a perfect nursery 

 of these curious animals, and, from their numbers and well- 

 known destructive habits, immense quantities of salmon 

 must be annually destroyed to satisfy their fastidious and 

 insatiable appetites. I have since found out that the 

 habitants (persons of French extraction) frequently pay 

 visits to this locale for the capture of these valuable 

 amphibia, their oil and skins fetching long prices in our 

 principal markets. Since yesterday the water had fallen 

 some inches, but I had little fear that where fish were so 

 numerous and little disturbed it would unfavourably affect 

 their disposition to take. Having faith in the fly I 

 designated " the drummer," I determined to experiment- 

 alize with others, retaining my old friend as a last resource 

 in case of failure. I therefore selected a former favourite, 

 known by many as " the hornet/' and whose texture and 

 shape has produced good results in many localities. The 

 fly is made as follows : wings from the fine fibres of the 

 English cock pheasant's tail; body of yellow worsted or 

 amber-coloured mohair, the mohair to be preferred ; the 

 body to be ribbed with black and made full, with a large 

 red cock's hackle, black at the roots, wrapped several 

 times under the butt of the wings. Having got my rod 

 together, I commenced work, and the success that had 

 attended my efforts of the day before and my choice of 

 flies were quite equalled by this day's performance. The 

 third cast I rose a superb fish, but, unfortunately, scratched 



