FLIES. 217 



made of crimson floss silk, with a claret hackle 

 over it. The wings are of equal parts, but not 

 many fibres, of the dark brown speckled feather 

 off a mallard's back, and the light brown speckled 

 feather of the shovel duck, from the side of the 

 body, under and below the wing; and mixed with 

 these, and left rather longer, are six fibres from the 

 bright yellowish green parroqueet's wing. Then 

 over the wings comes a dark mottled feather from 

 about the shoulder of the grouse's wing, which 

 we call a grouse hackle, because generally worked 

 up (and as you see this is) as cock's hackles are, 

 namely, by being wound or hackled round the 

 shank of the hook. Three or four turns of a 

 black ostrich hurl for the head, completes the fly. 

 The third affords a good lesson of the advan- 

 tages of industry and foresight ; which, if 

 neglected in this instance, would have caused 

 me to reverse the reason for my regrets, and to 

 have petitioned the Emperor of the Salmon in 

 this river for the restoration of the fly, without a 

 care about the punishment of the fish that took 

 it ; I would then willingly have compounded the 

 felony, in defiance of the laws and statutes of this 

 realm in that case made and provided, as those 

 skilful fishers of men, lawyers, would have it. 

 But having completed half the circle of digres- 

 sion, let me tell you that it is a good fly, a 

 favourite fly, and a successful fly, made after the 



