PREFATORY NOTE. xiii 



angling Editor of the Field, Mr. Christopher Davies, 

 Mr. R. B. Marston, Editor of the Fishing Gazette, and 

 Mr. Thomas Andrews, I am also under the greatest 

 obligation for the very charming and interesting con- 

 tributions to which their names are attached. I only 

 regret that circumstances should have unavoidably 

 deprived my readers of a promised contribution on 

 salmon fishing from the pen of His Grace the Duke 

 of Beaufort, which would have been warmly welcomed 

 by all fly-fishers. 



For the rest, it has been my aim to make these 

 volumes as practical as possible ; and if the exigencies 

 of this role have involved a certain amount of space 

 being devoted to more or less technical matters which, 

 however necessary and important, are, perhaps, less 

 attractive to the general angling public than to the 

 enthusiastic student I hope the other part of the pro- 

 gramme laid down by the Editor has not been over- 

 looked, and that the following pages will be found to 

 be sufficiently diversified with anecdotes and incidents 

 of sport to redeem them from being hopelessly ' dull 

 reading.' 



H. C.-P. 



