CHAPTER XIV. 



FLOATS. 



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THIS buoyant article of our fancy has been of late much 

 improved. Patience and perseverance, it is said, will work 

 miracles ; but the two invaluable substances, Gutta Percha and 

 India rubber, having been successfully used in the manufacture 

 of floats, will prove to be of great importance and utility to the 

 angler, and will work wonders, as to the durability and con- 

 venience of this essential article of his equipment. 



The great objection to the cork float was, that much diffi- 

 culty was experienced in keeping it in order, either the quill or 

 the stem becoming, with very little wear, loose and unfit for 

 use. 



The turned hollow float, almost as light as air, being glued 

 or cemented together in the centre, by the constant action of 

 the sun and water, was apt to part in the centre, or by its ex- 

 treme thinness, liable to be broken almost as soon as a soft 

 boiled egg, particularly if the gentle Piscator, in his boat move- 

 ments, happened to tread too hard upon it. 



In the manufacture of the new descriptions, all these difficulties 

 are obviated, and the angler can now be furnished with an ar- 

 ticle almost as light as air, and durable as time. 



Gutta Percha is admirably adapted for the formation of this 

 implement of tackle, being, from its nature, very tenacious, 

 and easily worked into the desired shape. Those made of 

 this substance are lighter than wood, and cannot come apart 

 in the centre, nor break at the ends, except by extreme hard 

 usage and carelessness ; and even where this happens, they can 

 be repaired by the angler himself, with but little trouble. The 

 caoutchouc float is made in the usual form of the sheet rubber, 



