THE ETHICS OF THE DRY-FLY 69 



washings, in which case these streams clear very 

 rapidly, and in a few hours seem as bright as ever. 

 The strength of the current in them is in most parts 

 only moderately great, so that they flow smoothly and 

 at no great pace. In exceptional places, below weirs or 

 hatches, or where the fall of the river is very steep, there 

 are short stretches of quite fast water, in some cases 

 almost as rough and turbulent as a mountain stream. 



In the late spring and summer they are usually 

 covered with weeds, and, in fact, if the weeds are not 

 periodically cut the rivers get choked up with dense 

 tangles of vegetable growth. These weeds are well 

 stocked with the immature forms of such waterbred 

 insects as the duns, the caddis-flies, the stoneflies, some 

 of the smuts or curses, etc. The weeds are also 

 favourite haunts of crustaceans, such as the fresh-water 

 shrimp and of mollusks, such as the various snails. 

 Now all of these immature insects, as well as the winged 

 ones into which they change, and the crustaceans and 

 mollusks are the very best food imaginable for trout 

 and grayling. As a natural consequence these fish 

 are exceptionally well fed, grow to a large average 

 weight, and are usually in the best of condition. 

 These chalk-streams are pre-eminently the rivers in 

 which the dry-fly is most used and most successful. 



Those of us who will not under any circumstances 



cast except over rising fish are 



Purists. sometimes called ultra-purists, 



and those who will occasion- 

 ally try to tempt a fish in position, but not actually 



