PREFACE xv 



the student of tackle making and fly tying. Each illustration 

 of tackle is really needed, and the flies shown are not a mere 

 selection of gorgeous and pretty subjects, or I should have 

 chosen very differently ; but each fly is a specimen of some 

 separate class of flies, in which a special peculiarity of manu- 

 facture is evident. 



I have to thank many kind friends for assistance in lending 

 tackle and flies as subjects for the engravings, and also for 

 description, as will be found in the body of the work. 



I have given much time to this book, but I have given it 

 willingly, for it was in deed and in truth a labour of love. 

 Whether the angling public, to whom I dedicate it (desiring no 

 more potent patron), will appreciate my labours remains to be 

 seen, and so, without further apology if an attempt to supply 

 a long-felt and obvious want, the existence of which few 

 persons have been in a position to know and feel so well as 

 myself, be thought to require an apology into their hands I 

 commit it. 



FRANCIS FRANCIS. 



THE FIRS, 1867. 



