WADING BOOTS. 71 



connection with a subject respecting which a wide- 

 spread popular error still exists. 



Whatever modifications these waterproof gar- 

 ments may exhibit, according to the taste or 

 ingenuity of the various makers, it will be suffi- 

 cient for my purpose to class them under two 

 heads, viz., long boots, or stockings, pulled up 

 separately on each leg and extending above the 

 knee or nearly as high as the hip, and secondly, 

 complete Macintosh trowsers or overalls in 

 one piece, reaching as high as the waist, or, better 

 still, up to the armpits, over a jersey vest, where 

 they are usually tightened by a running string or 

 tape, and kept in position by short braces over the 

 shoulders. Coat and waistcoat are of course dis- 

 pensed with in this costume. 



Dismissing the Macintosh stockings from our 

 consideration, as they possess but one merit light- 

 ness or portability let us confine our attention 

 to the long boots and the trowsers. 



The boots may be made of thick leather, such 

 as are worn by all professional herring-fishers, or 

 of thinner waterproof material of the same kind, 

 or best of all in my opinion of vulcanized 

 india-rubber externally, down to the ankle, the 

 feet of thick cowhide, and the whole lined through- 

 out with soft, flexible leather. 



F 2 



