FL.Y-FISHING REQUIREMENTS. 7 



the most delicate substances of varied tissue and 

 colour, insects, often complete atomies, and of 

 changeable shapes and hues. Extreme neat- 

 ness characterises all the paraphernalia of the 

 fly-fisher. His sport requires the handling of 

 nothing that will soil the best-bred hand. The 

 composition of his bait extracts pain from no 

 living thing ; not even from the worm you tread 

 upon. To know that his baits are good, he must 

 to a certain extent be a naturalist. He must be 

 acquainted with the outward appearances of several 

 sorts of insects ; he must know the divisions of 

 the seasons in which they live and cease to be ; 

 he must know the climates and localities peculiar 

 or otherwise to each species; he must know 

 their names, and be able to classify them, if not 

 scientifically, at least piscatorially ; he must know 

 those that prove the most attractive food for each 

 kind of fish he angles for ; in fact, he must possess 

 a fund of knowledge that will cause him to be 

 considered an accomplished man by the members 

 of every rational society. 



To render the pleasures attendant on his pur- 

 suit complete, he is invited, if he seeks for super- 

 lative success, to practise it amongst the most 

 picturesque panorama devised by nature. The 

 brook that runs along the hill's side, the swift 

 stream that dashes through the valley, the moun- 

 tain waterfalls, the currents foaming between 

 B 4 



