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258 



wings and hackles, and all dun, brown, and 

 grey feathers that can be found on every bird 

 that flies are useful for imitating the natural 

 insects ; tying silks of every shade, yellow and 

 orange being the favorites ; hooks of sizes, and 

 silk-worm gut. 



And now to wind up the line. I humbly beg 

 to say that if I have deceived the friends of 

 the rod in anything, they have a right to be 

 indifferent with my profession of friendship, 

 and ought to retain a sensibility of my mis- 

 fortune ; my conscience is clear it is not so, for 

 I know that I would deceive myself were I to 

 think that I could do without my admirable 

 friends of the angle — without me they could 

 do — but I value their worth, as in hope I rest, 

 although they say " hope told a flattering tale." 

 I am not deceived by flattery, be it far from us ; 

 I dislike deceit. I have hid nothing; I have 

 done my endeavours in this book to show the 

 youths of the angle, as well as the great fly 

 fishers, all I know about the matter so far, and 

 as the Chinamen say, that " time and industry 

 convert a mulberry leaf into a silk shawl," 

 so perseverance will be the means of the fly 

 maker's success, if he allows himself an oppor- 



