xii Preface. 



other sport), never resorts to the wet-fly lure, 

 although finding no fault with those good fishermen 

 who do use it. He kills no small fish, nor any out of 

 condition : is content with moderate sport, especially 

 if obtained under adverse conditions proving his 

 patience and skill. Therefore, it need hardly be 

 said, he is no pot-hunter, save in the limited sense 

 that he nearly always presents his spoil to his 

 friends. Further, he prefers small flies to large : 

 consequently (and for other reasons) he often does 

 not join the throng of Mayfly enthusiasts, whose 

 sport is sometimes like mere slaughter. He is 

 humane to a degree in carefully unhooking and also 

 in returning fish to a river so as to avoid injuring 

 them ; in need, supporting them at its side until 

 they recover from the shock of being pulled out so 

 contrary to the practice of many anglers who toss 

 them through the air, when, on falling, they are often 

 injured by concussion with the water. In fact, dry- 

 fly fishing reduces the cruelty of angling to a 

 minimum, and is a good argument in its favour. 

 The dry-fly purist is a contemplative man, always 

 in love with Nature in her varying beauties, and not 

 least so when in his delightful environment by the 

 river- side the weather is favourable for his sport ; but 

 even then his skill is at fault until there is a " hatch - 

 out " of flies on the water (as the metamorphosis of 

 nymphse to sub-imagines is often erroneously 



