FLIES, FLY-DRESSING, ETC. 77 



of English streams as the education of the people of 

 the one country is admitted to be to that of the 

 other ; and supposing the most accomplished believer 

 in the English theory ay, even Mr. Francis himself 

 engaged on a mile of Tweed along with twenty or 

 thirty Galashiels weavers (by no means an unusual 

 number), we question if his basket at the finish 

 would illustrate very strongly the superiority of his 

 theory and practice. We have met English anglers 

 even in Scotland counting their takes by the brace, 

 and not in much danger of going wrong in their 

 reckoning either. Having relieved our feelings of 

 this protest on behalf of Scotch anglers and Scotch 

 trout, we must now consider what it is necessary to 

 imitate, or what do trout take, or rather mistake, the 

 artificial fly for. As before stated, we believe that, 

 deceived by an appearance of life, they take it for 

 what it is intended to imitate a fly or some other 

 aquatic insect. In proof of this, artificial flies are 

 not of much use unless the trout are at the time 

 feeding on the natural insect. And an artificial fly 

 will kill twenty trout for one which the feathers 

 composing it, rolled round the hook without regard 

 to shape, will. Nay, more ; a neatly made natural- 

 looking fly will, where trout are shy, kill three trout 

 for one which a clumsy fly will ; and a fly with the 

 exposed part of the hook taken off will raise more 

 trout than a fly with the same left on. In the first 

 case, the trout see no resemblance in form to any- 

 thing they are accustomed to feed upon, and, unless 

 very hungry, decline to seize it. In the second case, 



