CHAP, v.] THE FOURTH DAY. 101 



black wool, with a yellow list on either side ; and the wings taken 

 off the wings of a buzzard, bound with black braked hemp. The 

 eighth is the moorish-fly: made with the body of duskish wool ; 

 and the wings made of the blackish mail of the drake. The ninth 

 is the tawny-fly, good until the middle of June : the body made 

 of tawny wool ; the wings made contrary one against the other, 

 made of the whitish mail of the wild drake. The tenth is the 

 wasp-fly, in July : the body made of black wool, lapt about with 

 yellow silk ; the wings made of the feathers of the drake, or of 

 the buzzard. The eleventh is the shell-fly, good in mid-July : the 

 body made of greenish wool, lapt about with the herle of a pea- 

 cock's tail ; and the wings made of the wings of the buzzard. The 

 twelfth is the dark drake-fly, good in August : the body made 

 with black wool, lapt about with black silk ; his wings are made 

 with the mail of the black drake, with a black head. Thus have 

 you a jury of flies, likely to betray and condemn all the Trouts in 

 the river. 



I shall next give you some other directions for fly-fishing, 

 such as are given by Mr Thomas Barker,* a gentleman that 

 hath spent much time in fishing : but I shall do it with a little 

 variation. 



First let your rod be light, and very gentle : I take the best 



* A notice of Barker will be found in the Memoir of Walton. The following extract 

 occurs in his "Art of Angling :" 



" My lord sent to me, at sun-going-down, to provide him a good dish of Trouts 

 against the next morning, by six o'clock. I went to the door to see how the wanes of 

 the air were like to prove. I returned answer, that I doubted not, God willing, but to be 

 provided at the time appointed. I went presently to the river, and it proved very dark : 

 I threw out a line of three silks and three hairs twisted, for the uppermost part ; and a 

 line of two hairs and two silks twisted, for the lower part with a good large hook. I 

 baited my hook with two lob-worms, the four ends hanging as meet as I could guess 

 them in the dark. I fell to angle. It proved very dark, so that 1 had good sport ; 

 angling with the lob-worms as I do with the flies, on the top of the water: You shall 

 hear the fish rise at the top of the water ; then, you must loose a slack line down to the 

 bottom, as nigh as you can guess ; then hold your line straight, feeling the fish bite ; give 

 time, there is no doubt of losing the fish, for there is not one amongst twenty but doth 

 gorge the bait: the least stroke you can strike fastens the hook, and makes the fish 

 sure, letting the fish take a turn or two ; you may take him up with your hands. The 

 night began to alter and grow somewhat lighter; I took off the lob-worms, and set to 

 my rod a white palmer-fly made of a large hook ; I had good sport for the time, until it 

 grew lighter ; so I took off the white palmer, and set to a red palmer, made of a large 

 hook ; I had good sport until it grew very light ; then I took off the red palmer, and set 

 to a black palmer ; I had good sport, and made up the dish of fish. So I put up my 



tackles, and was with my lord at his time appointed for the service. 



"These three flies, with the help of the lob-worms, serve to angle all the year for the 

 night ; observing the times as I have showed you in this night-work ; the white fly for 

 darkness, the red fly in mcdio, and the black fly for lightness. This is the true experi- 

 ence for Angling in the night ; which is the surest angling of all, and killeth the greatest 

 Trouts. Your lines may be strong, but must not be longer than your rod." 



Upon this passage, Mr Daniel observes : "Night-fishing with a fly is best from May 

 to the end of August ; but the largest fish are caught in the latter month. Trout will 

 take in the dark nights of any of the subsequent months, provided they be soft and 

 calm." Field Sports, ii. 290. 



