ANGLING LITERATURE OF 



the water's edge, and having ordered his servants to spread 

 a mat upon the ground, he sat upon it, as he threw the 

 line; and some with higher notions of comfort, used a 

 chair for the same purpose. The rod used was short, 

 and apparently of one piece ; the line usually single, 

 though instances occur of a double line, each furnished 

 with its own hook, which, judging from those commonly 

 found, was of bronze. 



The fishermen, who, it may be observed, composed 

 one of the sub-divisions of the Egyptian casts, and who 

 gained their livelihood by fishing, generally used nets in 

 preference to lines, but on some occasions they employed 

 the latter, seated or standing on the bank. It is, however, 

 probable, that these were people who could not afford 

 the expense of nets ; and the use of the line is generally 

 confined, in like manner, at the present day, to the poorer 

 classes, who depend upon skill or good fortune, for their 

 subsistence. 



In all cases they adopted a ground bait (as is still 

 the custom in Egypt) without any float; and though 

 several winged insects are represented in the paintings 

 hovering over the water, it does not appear that they ever 

 put them to the hook, and still less that they had devised 

 any method similar to our artificial fly-fishing ; which is, 

 as just noticed, still unknown to the Egyptians, though 

 the fish of the Nile are occasionally seen to rise at insects 

 on the water's surface. 3 



3 Wilkinson's Egypt. 



