306 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 



them, after getting a fall, lie on his back and elevate his 

 heels into the air, forming a humanized letter h^ , and the water 

 which ran out of his boots, ran down, or rather up, his back. 

 Do not be persuaded to try a pair of them ; if you do, to 

 use the expression of an Irish friend, "you will come to 

 grief;" but go to your bootmaker, and get him to make you 

 a stout pair of double-soled lace-boots, to come above and fit 

 snugly around the ankle ; have only one heel-tap, and stud 

 the soles (not too thickly) from toe to heel with soft iron hob- 

 nails, such as are used by foundrymen and forgemen to pro- 

 tect the soles of their shoes when treading on hot iron. The 

 soft iron of which these nails are made gives a firm hold on 

 slippery rocks. Stout woollen socks or stockings should 

 invariably be used to wade in ; they are softer and feel warmer 

 than cotton when wet. 



The Creel or Basket should be of the usual shape, to 

 fit one's side, and of capacity for fourteen pounds of trout ; 

 this size is convenient for stowing wading-shoes and trousers 

 in, and a bottle of claret or anything else may be securely 

 rolled in the trousers, when packing up for an excursion. 



The " top-tile" should be a drab or light-gray mixed felt 

 hat, with a twisted string, as well as a band (or in place of a 

 band), which is convenient to tuck flies under, when one is 

 changing them, and does not wish to return them wet to his 

 book. 



Landing-Net. — I have tried many nets that were recom- 

 mended as handy and easily carried, and, after many experi- 

 ments, at length hit on the following simple expedient, which 

 I will try to describe : When preparing for an excursion, put 

 into your rod-bag, or lash on the outside of it, a piece of rat- 

 tan the size of your little finger, and about four feet long. On 

 arriving at your quarters, bend it in the middle, and, after 

 slipping the net on, bring the two ends together so as to form 



