MISCELLANEA. 1 9 



made by tying a half knot round each strand of 

 gut with the end of the other strand, in the form 

 shown in the cut ; then drawing both knots tight, 

 and lastly drawing them closely together and cut- 

 ting off the ends. 



In the exceptional cases adverted to, when extra 

 strength is really essential, as in the case of Salmon 

 casting-lines and gut-traces used for Pike-spinning, 

 a simple modification of the above knot will be 

 found useful. It is tied thus : Join the strands of 

 gut in an ordinary single fisherman's knot, pulling 

 each of the half knots as tight as possible ; but 

 instead of drawing them together and lapping the 

 ends down on the outside, draw them only to within 

 about an eighth of an inch of each other, and lap 

 between them with light-coloured silk, or, still 

 better, fine gut previously well soaked in water. 

 This lapping relieves the knot itself of half its 

 duty, and on any sudden jerk, such as striking, acts 

 as a sort of buffer to receive and distribute the 

 strain. It is one of the simplest possible forms of 

 knot ; and from its being much neater and nearly 

 twice as strong, may be substituted with advantage 

 for the ordinary whipped knot in Salmon casting- 



