44 



dressings of patterns, the fibres necessary in tlie wing, the bit of this, 

 and the bit of that (is all) rubbish." And in another equally 

 unfortunate connection, relating to my calling rivers " Grey," etc., he 

 states — of course without the slightest confirmation — that " such 

 things exist more in the minds of the men who fish them, than in the 

 minds of the salmon they fish for." 



Untrained anglers love to get at the truth, and truth is 

 established not so much by what men say as what they prove. So to 

 continue. 



The predisposition towards greenish bodies on the river Spey, 

 transient but clearly evident, arises from nothing else than the ever- 

 present so called " green-king," gobbled up freely in its own short 

 season. 



The cause of our careful imitation of the natural insect, and of 

 using nothing else for the time being, is equally notorious in this case 

 too ; and the effect, productive of a heavier creel, is steadfast, 

 convincing, and conclusive. 



Once more. The predisposition towards Red on the Earn, arises 

 from nothing else than the presence of what is called the " rcd- 

 underwing," seen flying up and down the river m thousands early in 

 autumn— and so on, ad !/tJi/ii/t/>/i.(^ee pages 25.4-5 i" "The Salmon 

 Fly," and kindly note the singular success recorded of a trained angler, 

 whose practical science is beyond all question.) 



It is, of course, open to fishermen to see several sides of a 

 question. For instance, one lays down a system of fishing founded 

 on fact, another says it's rubbish, whilst a third writes to the author 

 of the system in a private letter, " you touched nothing in your five 

 hundred pages of honest matter which you did not elucidate. After 



