10 PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 



shot-gun, half-rifle that is, the right-hand barrel was 

 smooth, the left rifled. This was my first experience 

 of such a weapon, and most probably will be my last. 

 The game was found, the cover was close, and snap 

 shooting necessary. It was of no use. The gun would 

 not come up, or the game come down. The fact was, 

 that the shot barrel was only half the weight of the 

 rifled, consequently the whole fabric was without 

 balance, and do what I would my aim was invariably 

 disconcerted. 



Of the joints used in fly-rods the plain sliding one is 

 probably the most convenient. If properly fitted it 

 should never jamb or work loose ; but if I lived on a 

 river I should never make use of any other than the 

 simple splice, for the lashing affects less the action of 

 the spring; and if a few additional moments are lost in 

 putting it together, the return is ample recompense. 

 But I fear the age is too fast for its adoption. 



Having given my opinions of what a rod should be, 

 I will now go to the reel. Of late years, at least since 

 I was a boy, all kinds of mechanical inventions and 

 appliances have been used to produce a more perfect 

 reel : and there are now to be obtained stop reels, mul- 

 tiplying reels, and reels with as many internal cog and 

 other wheels as would start a clockmaker. Of these 

 complicated apparatuses beware, for they are fraught 

 with disappointment and vexation of spirit; the old 

 simple click reel is the only one that deserves the 

 honour of being attached to a fly-rod. Still, too much 

 care and attention cannot be devoted to their construc- 

 tion. Every screw and joint should be as perfectly 

 finished as those of a gun from a first-class manufac- 

 turer. The barrel of the reel should be wide in pro- 



