1 ABLY FLY FISHING IN FRANCE. 55 



in Chapter IX., some can pretty certainly be 

 attributed to natural insects. But more in- 

 teresting still is the question where they came 

 from. The writer cannot have originated 

 them, for he clearly was writing at second 

 hand. They were not copied from the list in the 

 Treatise, or from any other book I know of. I 

 suspect they came from some French source 

 which I have missed. 



No directions are given either for making or 

 casting the fly; and the method of its use is 

 stated only in the vaguest generalities. It is 

 claimed, says the Traitte, that with these flies 

 trout can be fished for successfully with hook 

 and line; and that the fish, attracted by these 

 different colours according to the different 

 seasons, is easily beguiled. And it concludes, 

 'la prove merite qu'on eprouve ces secrets,' 

 which shows that the writer had no personal 

 experience of the fly. 



That concludes all that I know of fly fishing 

 in France before modern times. It is a long 

 way behind England ; for Frere Frangois Fortin 

 was a contemporary of Walton, while Liger 

 came half way between Chetham and Bowlker ; 

 and, in either case, we move into a different 

 world when we reach England. We must now 

 go back and return thither, to describe a mar- 

 vellous age. 



