RAIN, HAIL, AND SLEET 109 



(a) CLOUDS 



Clouds, as the embryonic stage of rain, 

 claim precedence, and only one com- 

 munication of importance has reached me 

 on the subject. The indirect effect of 

 clouds, in diminishing the illumination of 

 the background and thereby affecting the 

 fly -fisher's sport on dull days, may be re- 

 garded as the converse of sunshine, and 

 as such was incidentally considered under 

 the head of LIGHT in the last chapter. 

 What has now briefly to be considered 

 is the more subtle influence of certain 

 clouds, which cannot, for reasons which 

 will be apparent in the quotation which 

 follows, be attributed to any mere effect 

 of the light. Though these clouds may 

 possibly modify the appearance of the fly, 

 it is far more likely that they are sympto- 

 matic of some atmospheric condition, 

 which makes the fish reluctant to feed. 

 It seems inconceivable that the presence 

 of a particular cloud on the sky-line should 

 so affect these creatures as to give them 



