216 FrSFIES AND FISHING. 



of the body, either finely ribbed, or not, with silver, 

 is, I am told, very killiag ; but natural hackles, so 

 dark a red, are scarce. 



In the Thames, palmers of a tolerable good size, of 

 any description, will take chub and dace ; but the 

 fly with which Mr. Brand, a legal gentleman, of 

 Staples Inn, a most successful fly angler, killed trout 

 and salmon in the Thames, was. a palmer made of a 

 deep red and black live hackle, body of bright green 

 floi^s silk, ribbed with gold, and not too small. 



I have not had the advantage of enjoying the noble 

 sport of fly-fishing for salmon, but I have often thought 

 of the straijge-looking things salmon flies are. I am 

 told they are intended to imitate the dragon-fly — if so, 

 they are very poor imitations ; however, as I belie"ve 

 the best salmon fishing occurs some time before the 

 dragon-fly makes its appearance, any nondescript 

 substance moving on the surface of the water, like a 

 thing of liie, probably proves attractive to the hungry 

 fish. 



An angler's weight of fish is often very erroneous ; 

 there are small neat steelyards to be found at most 

 tackle shops, very useful for deciding any diflerence 

 of opinion on that point. Sir Humphrey Davy had 

 the butt of his rod marked with a scale of feet and 

 inches, and he said that a trout seventeen inches in 

 length, and nine inches in breadth, would weigh two 



