414 Fly-rods and Fly-tackle. 



torn, and provided with a brass screw cap. A simple linen 

 rod-bag went with it. Stowing the detached handle in 

 my pack, two butts, three middle joints, and four or five 

 tips were placed in this bag, and tied up so they could 

 not chafe. The tin case readily held the whole. Not 

 only did I find it a most convenient walking-staff through 

 over seventy -five miles of foot travel, all of it with a 

 pack on my back, and much of it without even a sign of 

 a trail, but also after our return it lay day and night in 

 our boat, containing spare rods and tips, all of which it 

 kept perfectly dry and in good order through rain and 

 shine. The first cost is next to nothing, while its further 

 superiority over the ordinary bamboo tip-case, in its in- 

 difference to weather and far greater carrying capacity, 

 have led me to resolve never to go into the woods again 

 without one. Nor am I alone in this opinion, for it was 

 the subject of constant and invariably favorable comment 

 by many other anglers. 



But let us return to the wading-shoes, of which we lost 

 sight so long ago. 



Through the uppers at the instep and close to the soles, 

 the leather should be pierced three or four times with 

 the small blade of a penknife, that when the stream is 

 abandoned for the bank the water may find egress. But 

 these holes must be small, and made as I have said by 

 a single small cut with closely adjacent edges, or sand 

 and gravel will enter, to the great annoyance of the 

 angler. 



The drawers and stockings should be of wool, with- 

 out the admixture of any cotton whatever. This is of 

 the first importance to health. The difference in comfort 

 arising from this cause is wonderful. After the first im- 

 mersion, with woollen socks and underclothes, the wader 



