FISHES AND FISHING. 205 



kindly added from his father's stock to mine. Mr. 

 H. proved to me that most fly rods were too weak in 

 the middle ; that when held out horizontally they 

 drooped too much ; he could not find a rod that suited 

 his ideas, so he obtained tools and made his own ; he 

 pointed out to me the necessity of having the ferrules 

 well hammered upon triblets, (round pieces of steel, ) 

 and to protect his rod from the effects of rain, he 

 varnished it with copal varnish. At my request he 

 introduced me to an old Welshman, named David 

 Williams, whom Mr. H. had drilled into making 

 rods according to his plan ; this Williams was ac- *^..,^ 

 quainted with Clark, the unrivalled maker of glued- | ^ 

 up bamboo fly-rods ; the most excellent of all rods, i ^ 

 I obtained about ten sticks of the proper cane, and 

 Williams induced Clark to make one for me, and 

 anotlier for my friend, Mr L. 



Williams was a very good angler, but an eccentric 

 character ; he always went out fishing by himself ; 

 would never tell any one where he was going, or on 

 his return say where he had been ; or acknowledge 

 to having caught more than a brace. One day the 

 landlord of the Duke's Head, Waliington, named 

 Webster, a house well known, at that time, to all an- 

 glers on the Wandle, was passing a part of the fre 

 water, and seeing Williams, whom he knew, he 

 enquired if he had had any sport. *' l^a ! na !" said 



