306 lktn$s of tbe 1Rot>, IRifle, anb (Bun 



he adopted a dress for concealing his person, as a 

 sportsman in woods and plantations, it was his object 

 to devise means for exposing it ; for he always enter- 

 tained a singular dread lest he might be shot upon 

 these occasions. When upon a visit to Mr. Dillwyn, of 

 Swansea, he accompanied his friend on a shooting 

 excursion, in a broad-brimmed hat, the whole of which, 

 with the exception of the brim, was covered with scarlet 

 cloth." 



Dr. Paris, who was no angler, expresses the opinion 

 that Davy was not more successful than other anglers ; 

 but John Davy, who was one of the best fishermen of 

 his day, pays this tribute to his brother's skill in the 

 " gentle craft " : 



" He was a better angler than he was a fowler ; 

 indeed he was the most successful angler I ever knew. 

 He threw the fly with great delicacy and dexterity, and 

 had a tact and knowledge which made him very superior 

 to the common angler, however much practised. Salmon 

 fishing he was very successful in ; but I believe he was 

 most successful in trout fishing, in which he had most 

 experience. His tackle was curious and elaborate ; 

 he seemed to have had a pleasure in collecting the gay 

 materials necessary for dressing flies, though he seldom 

 used them himself, excepting on emergency, having 

 been always too much occupied to have had leisure to 

 apply himself much to fly-making, an art in which it 

 is impossible to attain tolerable skill without much 

 practice." 



Both Dr. Paris and John Davy agree in crediting 

 Humphry with the display of the same extraordinary 



