18 



CHAPTER II. 



COMMENDATION OF THE ART OF FLY-FISHING 

 CONTINUED. 



THE moment any one of the slightest taste 

 examines the tackle or "harness" which the 

 fly-fisher uses, he must acknowledge that it is 

 clean,* neat, delicate, and elegant. The essen- 

 tial property that marks all his gear is, light- 

 ness. His rod must he nearly as light and as 

 limber as an enchanter's wand ; beautifully, 

 lightly, gracefully, pliantly, tapering from the 

 but to the top; made of the lightest, the 

 most pliant, the toughest, and the strongest 

 wood ; and joined and put together with ma- 



* " In addition to the foregoing advantages, that of 

 CLEANLINESS must not be omitted. How greatly prefer- 

 able is the simple formation of an artificial fly of feathers 

 and fur, to the unpleasantness attendant upon baiting a 

 hook with worm, maggot, or paste ! The one will last 

 during the diversion of a whole day, and with care much 

 longer, whilst the other requires adjusting or renewing 

 after every trifling nibble ; to say nothing of the cruelty 

 which attaches to the introduction of a hook into the 

 worm whilst living, or the extraction of a gorged hook 

 from the entrails of a ravenous fish." Bairibridge. 



