278 Fly^rods and Fly-tackle. 



trouble of hauling the canoe over the obstruction. We 

 discovered our mistake only when fully committed to 

 abide the result. My rod, a hexagonal split-bamboo nine 

 feet and eleven inches long, and between seven and eight 

 ounces in weight, and of my own make, lay upon the 

 thwarts of the canoe, so that it might not become en- 

 tangled in the overhanging bushes and trees, under which 

 the tortuous channel frequently compelled us to take our 

 way. I fell with the whole weight of my body upon the 

 middle joint, striking it between the thwarts, there some 

 three feet apart, and where the bamboo had nothing but 

 its own strength to oppose to the shock. But two of the 

 six strands gave way, and those splintered in such a fash- 

 ion that they were readily returned to position, and, with 

 the aid of a little glue, the joint was restored to its pris- 

 tine strength and usefulness. Such is the strength of this 

 material when really first-class. Yet the bamboo of which 

 this joint was composed was quite blue in color. 



I theorize in regard to this matter in the following man- 

 ner, and deduce the following conclusion : A cane may 

 discolor from a fermentation, or analogous change, in 

 its own constituent elements ; or from contact with a 

 discolored fluid. If the cane is free from sap, it is but 

 a bundle of capillary tubes, and the immersion of one 

 end of these tubes in such a fluid would cause them to 

 be filled by it, in accordance with well - known natural 

 laws. In the first case the change in color would indi- 

 cate a change in structure, while in the second it would 

 but show the presence of foreign coloring matter, not 

 necessarily more injurious than the dust upon a shelf is 

 to the strength of that shelf. My conclusion, based upon 

 this theory, and so amply confirmed by actual experiment 

 that I assert it with as much confidence as any other 



