THE COMPLETE ANGLEE. 293 



Having now told you how to angle with this fly alive, I 

 am now to tell you next how to make an artificial fly, that 

 will so perfectly resemble him, as to be taken in a rough 

 windy day, when no flies can lie upon the water, nor are to 

 be found about the banks and sides of the river, to a wonder ;-. 

 and with which you shall certainly kill the best trout and/ 

 grayling in the river. 



The artificial GREEX-DRAKE, then, is made upon a large 

 hook, the dubbing, camel's hair, bright bear's hair, the soft 

 down that is combed from a hog's bristles, and yellow camlet, 

 well mixed together ; the body long, and ribbed about with 

 green silk, or rather yellow, waxed with green wax : the 

 whisks of the tail, of the long hairs of sables, or fitchet ; and 

 the wings, of a white-grey feather of a mallard, dyed yellow, 

 which is also to be dyed thus : 



Take the root of a barbary tree, and shave it, and put to 

 it woody viss, with as much alum as a walnut, and boil your 



one, found on the sides under the wings of the mallard, and dyed a paler 

 yellow-green colour. To hit the true colour is the great difficulty. How to 

 get over it, I know not. I must be content to cite the best authorities. First, 

 I will take Mr. Blacker, a capital judge of colours, who dyes his feathers yellow 

 by the following recipe : Boil two or three handfuls of yellow wood one hour 

 in a quart of soft water; wash the mallard feathers with soap and warm 

 water ; then boil them a short time, with a large spoonful of alum and tartar, 

 in a little pipkin holding a pint of water ; take them out, and immerse them 

 in your yellow decoction, and simmer slowly for an hour or two. The shorter 

 the simmering, the paler the yellow of the feathers ; take them out, and wash 

 them in clean hard water. When there is occasion for dyeing ydlo2V-green t add 

 a little blue, more or less, according to the shade of green you wish to give the 

 yellow. Mr. Ronald's 'Fly-fisher's Entomology,' recommends another way 

 for dyeing mallard's feathers for the May-fly's wings. He tells us to make a 

 mordant, by dissolving a quarter of an ounce of alum in a pint of water, and 

 then to slightly boil the feathers in it to get the grease out of them, after which 

 to boil them in an infusion of fustic to procure a yellow, and then subduing 

 the brightness of the yellow by adding a little copperas to the infusion. 

 Having now the wing-feathers dyed, I'll tell you how to make the fly : Body, 

 bright yellow mohair, or floss silk, ribbed sparingly with a very thin, light 

 bronze peacock's harl ; wings, mottled feather of the mallard, dyed a pale 

 yellow-green. They are to stand erect, and be slightly divided ; legs, a couple 

 of turns, close under the wings, of a light red ginger hackle; tail-whisks, 

 three black hairs from a rabbit's whisker. Hooks, 6, 7, and 8. Another way : 

 Body, yellow-green mohair ; wings, mallard's feather dyed yellow ; a black 

 head ; legs, a yellowish hackle; tail, three hairs from a black bear's-skin. A 

 third way, Body, yellow floss silk, ribbed with bro\vn tying silk; wings, as 

 before; legs, a yellow, grizzled dun hackle; tail, as before; head, bronze 

 peacock harl ; and hooks as before. During the season of the May -fly, I 

 would angle with three flies of different sizes and colours. I should then have 

 three chances of success, and could ascertain which was the preferable fly." I 

 think the May-fly of Ireland is of greener hue than in England. In small, 

 well wooded rivers of mild temperature, the May-fly grows to a larger size than 

 in exposed, wide rivers in our colder counties. ED. 



