viii. BRIEF SKETCH OF DAVID FOSTER. 



appertaining to his chosen pursuits. He frequently visited the noted 

 fishing streams in the three kingdoms, often making long tours in 

 Scotland and Ireland with men of great celebrity. 



From the time of Izaak Walton and his friend Charles Cotton, the 

 limpid Dove, with its silvery wings, has been the chosen resort of 

 fishermen. The scenery is of the most romantic and beautiful 

 description. There is scarcely a river in the world that can surpass it 



" None yields the gentle angler such delight." 



Its beauteous swims, eddies, and streams filled the soul of David 

 Foster with rapture. 



In the year 1841 he removed to Ashbourn, to be near his lovely 

 Dove. Here he rapidly grew into notoriety as a " Naturalist," and 

 was significantly styled the "Amiable Angler of the Dale." He 

 applied himself with great energy and ingenuity to the improvement 

 of fishing with the artificial fly ; the study of aquatic insects ; the 

 forms and colours of flies found on certain waters ; the times of their 

 appearance and departure ; and the methods of imitation. An ento- 

 mological student, a man of keen observation and quick discernment, 

 witty, courteous, patient, kind, and hopeful, he was a great favourite 

 with gentlemen who make angling their recreation. Gifted with a 

 natural fluency of speech, he was a ready and an amusing companion. 

 For forty years he had been the " Mentor " to whom the fly-fishers 

 of the Midlands had been accustomed to apply for aid and instruction. 

 " Born a Naturalist," he sought to make nature in her insect creation 

 a thing of practical wisdom. Men speak of him as a clever, original, 

 well-informed man "just and true in all his dealings." 



In Land arid Water, last August a most interesting paper Mr. 

 Foster was referred to in very flattering terms as the originator of 

 several valuable improvements in the art of fly-fishing, etc., the most 

 important being Foster's Eight-plait Waterproof Line, and the New 

 Patent Acme Line. These lines are now in use throughout the 

 civilised world, as well as the machine for refining gut, improvements 

 in reels, rods, flies, etc. In short, it was his constant study to 

 perfect every branch of the angler's equipage. The last few years of 

 his life were devoted to the pleasure of angling, and to the exercise of 

 his inventive genius. A splendid rod, constructed upon an entirely 

 new and original principle, was just completed when the Great Father 

 called him suddenly away. 



For many years Mr. Foster contributed to various newspapers "Notes 

 on Angling." These, with a mass of manuscript on the art of fly- 

 fishing, would make volumes of intense interest and usefulness, and be a 



