302 AMATEUR TACKLE MAKING, ETC. 



strand of the needful shade of silk supplied by an 

 obscure recess of the fly book forms the requisite 

 material, and the next moment sees the necessary 

 transformation accomplished ; the silk having been 

 wound round and over the existing body, is finally 

 knotted off in the usual way, and now fishy favour 

 and sedate finny wisdom succornb readily to the 

 faithfully pourtrayed fly. 



Again, as each gust of wind upon a rough autumn 

 day scatters leaves, twigs, and insects upon the 

 water's surface, a copy of the fly most plentiful is 

 temptingly presented at the extremity of the 

 customary fine cast, and the gleaming side of a 

 moving fish is seen as <it advances to take ah ! no ; 

 he turns, doubles down, and is gone. This is the 

 effect ; the cause needs investigation. A contrast 

 of artificial and natural reveals nothing definite ; the 

 eye finally falls upon the stream, the vast majority 

 of insects there are seen to be drowned, and are 

 borne along at the wild will of wind and wave. On 

 this becoming apparent, the hackle of the copy is 

 thinned out or cut away to two-thirds its original 

 bulk, which extracts from its buoyancy and materially 

 changes its appearance. It is again whirled on its 

 diplomatic mission repeatedly, and proves its success 

 in the net yield during the subsequent hour or two. 



Herein is exemplified the veracity of the philo- 

 sophical assertion, " In knowledge reposeth power." 



The followers of every given pursuit, whether 

 recreative or industrial, are ever liable to be thwarted 

 and frustrated by unlocked for contingencies, 



