326 SALMON AND TROUT. 



cialiy when there are other anglers on the stream. If you 

 1 establish a raw ' on your foot, don't lay it up and ' swear at 

 large,' but wash the place carefully, and clip away the loose 

 skin. Then mix the white of a fresh egg with a few drops of 

 brandy, and lay it over the bare place with a feather. When 

 the spirit evaporates as it will in a few minutes a fine trans- 

 parent film will be left. Repeat this process three or four 

 times, and you will have a perfect artificial skin, which will 

 neither wash off nor rub off. I have done a long day on the 

 moors with such a false cuticle on heel and toe without pain or 

 even inconvenience. 



But your fly fisher must be fed as well as clothed ; and 

 though by virtue of his healthy calling he ought to make a sub- 

 stantial breakfast, somewhere towards 2 P.M. (generally the 

 slackest time of the day) he will feel that Nature abhors a 

 vacuum. Something he must have in his pouch 



Quod interpellet inani 

 Ventre diem durare. 



What that something shall be must depend on his taste and 

 the state of the sideboard. But if he inclines to the sweet 

 simplicity of sandwiches, let him make them of ham sliced very 

 thin, and overlaid with marmalade. The combination may 

 seem startling, but will be found most palatable, particularly 

 in warm weather. A layer of unpressed caviare, again, with a 

 squeeze of lemon and a sprinkling of mustard and cress, though 

 less substantial, has a pleasant relish. 



As for fluids, during many years, when I was well up to the 

 mark as a pedestrian, I found nothing better in a long day by 

 moor or river side than an occasional mouthful of cold tea. 

 But I would mention for the benefit of those who, like myself, 

 are in the down-hill of life, that I have found a great resource 

 against fatigue in a pocket flask of the 'Vin Mariani.' It is an 

 extract of the 'coca leaf,' } the sustaining power of which (see 

 Kingsley's 'Westward Ho !') has been for centuries known to 



1 Brythroxylon coca. 



