THE BLOW-LINE SYSTEM 129 



should a fish be treated less fairly ? Of all sport- 

 ing quarries, a fox, a snipe, and a trout hold 

 the place of honour in my estimation. All these 

 require no little science and skill to circumvent 

 honestly and fairly, and the man who can lay 

 himself out to encompass the destruction of any 

 one of them by illegitimate means cannot be 

 considered a true sportsman. 



The following may be of use to those who 

 adopt the blow-line system. It was told me 

 many years ago, by a namesake, a very good 

 fisherman, and, as it has the merit of being 

 humane, I here mention it. If, instead of impaling 

 the mayfly, a tiny piece of bird-lime is placed on 

 the bend of the hook, and the latter, thus pre- 

 pared, between the wings of the fly, not only 

 is the cruelty of impalement avoided, but the fly 

 will last much longer, and be infinitely more 

 attractive by reason of its being thus kept 

 alive. 



The following are dressings of the mayfly. 

 The dyes referred to by Mr. Hal ford are those 

 which he treats of in his book on artificial fly- 

 making, and which were prepared for him by 

 Messrs. Crawshaw. The numbers are those by 

 which he designates the several colours, of which 

 he gives a table from No. i to No. 9. I have 

 selected those which I consider the most suitable 

 for general use : 



9 



