24:0 GUN", ROD, AND SADDLE. 



a river I should never make use of any other than 

 the simple splice, for the lashing affects less the ac- 

 tion of the spring ; and if a few additional moments 

 are lost in putting it together, the return is ample 

 recompense. But I fear the age is too fast for its 

 adoption. 



Having given my thoughts upon the rod I will now 

 go to the reel. Of late years, at least since I was a 

 boy, all kinds of mechanical inventions and appliances 

 have been used to produce a more perfect reel : there 

 are now to be obtained stop reels, multiplying reels, 

 and reels with as many internal cog and other wheels 

 as would start a clockmaker. Of these complicated 

 apparatuses beware, for they are fraught with disap- 

 pointment and vexation of spirit ; the old simple 

 click reel is the only one that deserves the honor 

 of being attached to a fly-rod. Still, too much 

 care and attention can not be devoted to their 

 construction. Every screw and joint should be as 

 perfectly finished as those of a gun from a first- 

 class manufacturer. The barrel of the reel should 

 be wide in proportion to its length, for you thus 

 gain power or give line with greater freedom; 

 nothing is more unsightly or more awkward than a 

 long narrow-barreled reel. Brass is the metal usual- 



