94 HOW TO PROCEED UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 



dignified resignation as lie can command. It will 

 only be a half- muddled stray one, that he will occa- 

 sionally succeed in hooking by mistake; and in the 

 intervals when the " feed" goes off the water, he may 

 stretch himself comfortably on the grass and enjoy his 

 forty winks ; for he will fill his creel quite as well in 

 this manner, as by thrashing the water. In fact, unless 

 he be in want of fresh air and exercise, it is his best plan 

 to bundle off home at once ; as the different tribes of 

 ephemerae are so numerous and minute that it simply is 

 impossible to imitate them properly. And even should an 

 ingenious sportsman attempt to convert his fly-book into 

 a magazine of midges, the labour would be endless ; 

 for should he be even patient and dexterous enough to 

 produce an accurate representative of a tribe which was 

 swarming in myriads at three in the afternoon, he would 

 find them totally useless at four ; when they would 

 again be replaced by another species, as opposite in hue 

 as light is from darkness. But if he is nevertheless 

 determined to presevere, his best plan will be to try on, 

 with the standard natural flies proper for the season, 

 or a well-dressed showy midge, and trust to chance for 

 success. It is, however, only on those rivers where 

 the soil is rich and the banks clothed with wood and 

 bushes, and the climate mild, that the ephemerae are 

 produced in such numbers as to occasion the above 

 annoyance ; while in cold exposed waters, such behaviour 

 on the part of the trout is seldom witnessed. 



