xii PREFATORY NOTE. 



pages the very kind assistance of the eminent and 

 scientific gentlemen who write in regard to such special 

 subjects with equal felicitousness and authority. Thus 

 the volumes of the Badminton Library confided to me 

 by the Editor and publishers will not lose either in 

 completeness or trustworthiness by my shortcomings. 



Frankly, however, this is not the only reason why I 

 have sought the able co-operation of Major John P. 

 Traherne, Mr. Henry R. Francis, Mr. H. S. Hall, and 

 Mr. Frederic M. Halford, in dealing with the theory 

 and practice of artificial fly-fishing. One reason is 

 that I hold opinions on these subjects which if not 

 'revolutionary,' may certainly be called in some sense 

 ' radical,' and which have not as yet found general 

 acceptance. 



Whether the said opinions are right or wrong matters 

 not. If I had seen any sufficient reason to alter them 

 at any rate in regard to their main outlines I should 

 have unhesitatingly avowed it long ago, for I look upon 

 a man who says that he never changes his mind as a 

 fool, or else as sacrificing truth to ' consistency ; ' but 

 whatever my theories, and whatever may be their ulti- 

 mate fate, I had, of course, no right or desire to air my 

 hobbies in the- pages of the Badminton Library ; and 

 I am sure that my readers will, in any case, be the 

 gainers by the substitution of the admirable essays 

 alluded to, written as they are by fly-fishers of long and 

 successful experience and in every sense entitled to be 

 regarded as masters of the craft. 



For the rest, it has been my aim to make these 



