196 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXII. 



trade of fly-making is little known. The number 

 of hands employed, men, women, and even children, 

 whose small fingers are the best adapted for imitating 

 the delicate wings of the midge or ant, and the 

 variety of materials used, would astonish the unini- 

 tiated. If any person will examine the wings and 

 body of a single Irish salmon-fly, he will perceive 

 how many substances are used, and how many birds 

 from every quarter of the globe are laid under con- 

 tribution, to form this tiny but powerfully attractive 

 bait, which, were it less carefully and skilfully con- 

 structed, would never entice the wary salmon out of 

 his resting-place, under some stone or rock, where, 

 like a gourmand in the snug comer of his club-room, 

 he patiently but anxiously awaits the arrival of some 

 delicate morsel. 



