32 TROUT FISHING 



considerations leading to that conclusion 

 will be set forth anon. 



Contemplating the great variety of the 

 flies which any first-class maker of tackle 

 can provide, one is lost in amazement at 

 the diligence and the skill which have 

 gone towards equipment for the sport. 

 Who discovered all the insects which are 

 figured in these little structures of feather, 

 fur, tinsel, silk, and steel ? Some of those 

 to whom the craft is altogether strange 

 might question whether in nature there 

 are so many different insects as a well- 

 stocked book of flies silently affirms. 

 Noticing the wealth of colour, the differ- 

 ences of shape, and the minute individu 

 alities of texture, they might suppose that, 

 instead of having been content to copy 

 nature, the makers of tackle had been 

 inventing things in the hope that novelties 

 would captivate the trout. That would 

 be misjudging. Even if it be a wondrous 

 blend of red, black, yellow, green or blue, 

 and gold, every one of these things has 

 its living prototype. The only difference 



