ARTIFICIAL FLY-MAKING. 59 



thus frequenting various rivers at the proper 

 seasons, as it is a well-known fact that rivers in 

 general are available for fly-fishing earlier or later 

 in the year in progression from west and south to 

 north, even to the northern parts of Scotland. I 

 had the good fortune to meet this experienced 

 angler on his travels, staying with him at the 

 same hotel, the Eutland Arms, in Bakewell, Derby- 

 shire. I say the good fortune, because I became 



his pupil in fly-making. If this Mr. W d had 



borrowed a pair of thumbs and a set of fingers 

 from the clumsiest clodhopper in the agricultural 

 world, they might still have been more delicate 

 and tapering than his own ; and yet this gentle- 

 man could make the smallest, neatest, and most 

 beautiful flies. I do not recollect to have seen in 

 the best fishing-tackle shops, whether in London 

 or elsewhere, flies so small and delicate ; so 

 perfect a master was he of his art. If Newton 

 could solve a problem, or Paganini execute a 



passage on the violin, so Mr. W d could 



make a fly. I mention this instance to prove 

 that no one need despair of making flies from 

 want of delicate, tapering fingers. Before we 

 dismiss this gentleman, it will be in accordance 

 with the merciful object of this treatise to mention 

 a circumstance which occurred in the neighbour- 



