42 SALMON FISHING IN CANADA. 



of the feathers of different birds, in which no one colour 

 largely predominates; the whole taken together being 

 rather of a rich brown than of a gaudy hue. * The favourite 

 bodies are made of mohair of every tint, from "fiery 

 brown " to " dark claret." The tinsel or twist gold or 

 silver, the streamer or tail a small feather from the golden 

 pheasant's topknot. When however I speak of size, I do 

 not mean to have it inferred that larger flies are never to 

 be used, nor smaller ones tried ; every fisherman knows 

 that the size of his fly should be proportioned to the depth 

 of the water in which he angles; flies may therefore, 

 generally, be of the medium size, with this proviso, that 

 I have very seldom found larger flies of any use, and 

 have often had good sport with smaller ones. 



Having mentioned " fiery brown " in the foregoing para- 

 graph, it occurs to me to state that I do not know any 

 colour which is so difficult to be obtained, or concerning 

 which there are so many conflicting opinions. When I 

 lived in the county of Clare, and fished Kossroe Lake, a 

 son of a Captain Bridgeman, who resided in the neighbour- 

 hood, used frequently to accompany me in my excursions, 

 and whenever the trout were sulky and the sport was dull, 

 my young friend used to heave a heavy sigh, and utter an 

 ardent wish that we had " one fly made of his father's real 

 fiery brown." As this was often the case, and we could not by 

 any manoeuvring get hold of the old gentleman's book of 

 colours, I wrote to Martin Kelly to send me a dozen of 



