SUBAQUEOUS LIFE 201 



LXIII 



The event in the day of every trout fisher, but 

 especially of the dry-fly fisher, is the rise Subaqueous 

 of fly. Everything hinges on that ; but Life 

 how variable, how uncertain it is ! This is greatly 

 borne in upon one in this month of August of all 

 others the worst in the season. There are hours in 

 every day of every month when not a fin stirs ; in 

 August there is often plenty of stir, but of that ex- 

 asperating kind known as * smutting,' when the fish 

 are feeding on insects so minute and multitudinous 

 that it is hopeless to present a counterfeit. At such 

 times happy is he who has stuffed into a corner of 

 his bag such a treasure as Professor Miall's Natural 

 History of Aquatic Insects, which will help him to 

 understand what a marvellous transaction the ' rise ' 

 really is, and what incredibly complex and delicate 

 changes are undergone by minute organisms in pass- 

 ing from larva to imago. Most of them can only be 

 followed through the microscope, but a simple 

 pocket lens suffices to reveal many beauties and 

 more horrors. Yes, horrors; for most of these 

 gauzy fabrics are creatures of prey, armed with 

 infinite variety of murderous weapons, and leading 



