ON RAPID STREAMS. 47 



deavouring to adhere as closely as possible to 

 important facts, obtained by personal observation, 

 I beseech the reader to reflect and make trial ere 

 he criticizes ; and if my descriptive powers are 

 insufficient to make the Art comprehensible to 

 all, I have to plead as my excuse, that my de- 

 sire is rather to give what is practically advan- 

 tageous and instructive to the fisherman, than by 

 more careful attention to the writing itself, to 

 render this little book pleasing and attractive by 

 relieving the piscatorial treatise with the descrip- 

 tion of country scenes and pastoral pleasures, 

 with their romantic and imaginative tendencies. 



Fly-fishing on large streams, such as are mostly 

 frequented by fishermen, has been very ably dis- 

 cussed by many authors, and I have very little to 

 add to their accounts, or differ from their opinions 

 in the general sense. The precise period when 

 we should commence fly-fishing, is as soon as the 

 trout are in condition for the table, for when they 

 are so, they will be found in sporting condition. 

 This depends on the breeding time of the trout, 

 which in some rivers is much earlier than in 

 others : the Exe, for example, is one of the earliest 

 rivers in Devonshire, and Exe fish being com- 

 paratively earlier than most streams in the North 

 of Devon, it is probable that their spawning 

 season begins earlier, on which account the trout 

 come into good condition, assume a healthy state, 

 and in course, are more active and powerful in 

 their movements, earlier in the commencement of 

 the year than those frequenting streams in which 



