220 THE TROUT ARE RISING 



so I asked Barclay to have a try, so that I could 

 watch and see how things went with him ; and 

 very soon I was able to tell him, when he was 

 playing a fish, " The identical moment the 

 trout came at your fly you struck him. Well 

 done ! " 



This reminds me of a personal performance 

 which the reader will forgive me for relating. I was 

 fishing in that district one afternoon by myself, 

 when a friendly farmer rode by with his f< boys " 

 (Kaffirs, no matter what age, are called <{ boys " 

 in South Africa) in attendance ; they were off to 

 a distant sheep farm, part of the routine pro- 

 gramme of the sheep farmers in those parts. Out 

 of sheer gaiety of heart, I said : "I'll see if I can 

 catch a trout for you to take with you." No 

 sooner had the words been said than I bethought 

 me : " What folly to hold out such a rash hope ! " 

 But sometimes the fireworks go off at the right 

 time. A nice trout was at once risen, hooked, 

 played, and landed, and duly handed over to the 

 farmer, whose grateful acceptance of it made me 

 remember the little incident with pleasure. 



It will have been noted that a dry-fly rod has 

 been recommended for consideration in planning 

 out equipment. Confession shall be made that, 

 until coming back to England towards the end 

 of 1915, I never possessed a dry-fly rod, having 

 always previously been a devotee of the wet fly. 

 Furthermore, I am of opinion that the wet fly 

 in South Africa is, on the whole, more effective 

 than the dry fly. But the delight I have had in 



