CHAP. vni. THE SECOND DAY. 233 



body, and that of your rod, nay of your very line, in a hot calm 

 day, will, in spite of your best caution, render suspected to them ; 

 but even then, in swift streams, or by sitting down patiently 

 behind a willow bush, you shall do more execution than at 

 almost any other time of the year with any other fly ; though 

 one may sometimes hit of a day, when he shall come home very 

 well satisfied with sport with several other flies : but with these 

 two, the GREEN-DRAKE and the STONE-FLY, I do verily believe 

 I could, some days in my life, had I not been weary of slaughter, 

 have loaden a lusty boy; and have sometimes, I do honestly 

 assure you, given over upon the mere account of satiety of 

 sport; which will be no hard matter to believe, when I like- 

 wise assure you, that with this very fly, I have in this very river 

 that runs by us, in three or four hours taken thirty, five-and- 

 thirty, and forty of the best trouts in the river. What shame 

 and pity it is, then, that such a river should be destroyed by the 

 basest sort of people, by those unlawful ways of fire and netting 

 in the night, and of damming, groping, spearing, hanging, and 

 hooking by day, which are now grown so common, that, though 

 we have very good laws to punish such offenders, every rascal 

 does it, for ought I see, impunt. 



To conclude, I cannot now in honesty but frankly tell you, that 

 many of these flies I have named, as least so made as we make 

 them here, will peradventure do you no great service in your 

 southern rivers; and will not conceal from you, b^it^hatj_have 

 sent flies to several friends in London, that for ought I could 

 eveTtrear, never ciid any great feats with them ; and therefore if 

 you intend to profit by my instructions, you must come to angle 

 with me here in the Peak; and so, if you please, let us walk up 

 to supper, and to-morrow, if the day be windy, as our days here 

 commonly are, 'tis ten to one but we shall take a good dish of 

 fish for dinner. 



