THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [PART II. 



so eager and forward to rise at a bait, that both the shadow of 

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

 hot, calm day, will, in spite of your best caution, render sus- 

 pected to them ; but even then, in swift streams, or by sitting 

 down patiently behind a willow-bush, you shall do more execu- 

 tion 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 likewise 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 is it, then, that such a river 

 should be destroyed by the basest sort of people, by those un- 

 lawful 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 aught I see, 

 impune. 



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

 that many of these flies I have named, at 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 but that I 

 have sent flies to several friends in London, that, for aught I 

 could ever hear, never did 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, 't is ten to one but we shall 

 take a good dish of fish for dinner. 



