58 TROUT PISHING 



mix with others of brighter and more lively tint. 

 Some rabbit skin, the same parts corresponding 

 to the hare. Some squirrel skin, the darker over 

 the back the better ; these will be found redder, 

 the lighter ones being carroty. A field mouse, 

 a house mouse, and a little otter's fur, with some 

 bullock's hair, of dark, almost purplish tint, 

 which may be obtained by searching along the 

 palings in paddocks where bullocks are kept, 

 and you will find some little tufts appended to 

 the numerous projecting points along the rails, 

 rubbed off and carded as it were by the animals 

 scratching their sides against the sharp points 

 projecting from the timber ; or, in old cob walls, 

 often little delicate tufts of useful shade may be 

 pulled out, having been doubtless changed in 

 colour by the action of lime ; but I prefer that 

 which I take from the rails, as it is always finer, 

 and therefore more easily used by itself, or mixed 

 with other furs. These constitute the essential 

 furs for general fishing for rapid and small 

 streams. I could be quite contented with a re- 

 striction to the hare's and squirrel's flax. Some- 

 times furs are dyed, and it is useful to have a 

 rabbit's and hare's skin dyed in one's box ; this 

 is usually done by soaking the fur for a day or 

 two in turmeric with a little alum. A new series 

 of shades is given the fur ; the roots of the hair 

 are bright yellow ; then comes some black ; and 

 the extreme points acquire a brighter hue of their 

 former colour, from some hairs taking a yellowish 

 tinge, thus as it were heightening the tone of the 



