KINSHIP WITH THE ARTS 31 



about on the hillsides or on the meadows; 

 or perchance it lurks in some copse by 

 the side of the stream. In any case, the 

 myriad family of insects newly born 

 among the reeds are liable to be caught 

 in it ; then they are numbed, fall upon the 

 water, gradually sink a little below the 

 surface, and are carried down the stream. 

 The trout take them without breaking 

 the water. That explains why the Dry- 

 fly doctrine is far from being of general 

 application. It has been fashionable 

 within the last ten years. Articles with- 

 out recorded number, and even a few 

 books, have been written in its praise. It 

 has received the unqualified approval of 

 sportsmen so eminent as Mr. Senior and 

 Lord Granby, together with the modified 

 approval of Sir Edward Grey and Mr. 

 Sydney Buxton among many others ; but 

 it holds a large element of fallacy. Often 

 most of the flies provided by Nature are 

 half-drowned. Half-drowned, then, as a 

 rule, should be the aspect of the lures 

 offered to the trout by the angler. Other 



