WADERS AND WADING. IIT 
wading stockings, but very much lighter—and this is con- 
tinued at the foot under light buff leather boots, kept in 
position by a strap across the instep. The ‘sum tottle of the 
whole,’ as Mr. Hume used to say, is that whereas a similar pair 
of ordinary wading stockings and boots (coming up only an 
inch or two higher) weigh between five and six pounds—more 
often nearer six than five—the Over-knee waders are, for a 
man of six feet, davely over three pounds—not much more than 
one half, and little, if at all, in excess of the weight of an 
ordinary pair of shooting boots. There are many anglers, not 
quite so young as they used to be, to whom the weight of the 
orthodox waders is almost prohibitive; and there are many 
others who, though like myself, quite up to ‘carrying weight’ 
when really necessary, object to doing so when no real neces- 
sity exists. And all this holds good just as much in the case 
of the Trout-fisher as the Pike-fisher. Perhaps, indeed, even 
more; inasmuch as, whilst the enforced wadings of the one 
are more or less exceptional and intermittent, those of the 
other are the normal conditions of his sport. I often think 
that the question of ‘weight-carrying’ in the matter of dress 
and equipment generally is less studied than it ought to be 
by sportsmen. A man will give fifty guineas more for a pair 
of Purdey guns, because they weigh perhaps a few ounces 
less than a pair by some other maker—with, as he believes, an 
equal chance of safety to his head—and he knows by experience 
how those few ounces will ‘tell’ towards the end of along day’s 
tramp over a grouse moor. In all this he is, so far as avoirdu- 
pois is concerned, perfectly right—but why does he not go a 
step further and devote a little attention to the weight of the 
other portions of his equipment? Why, for instance, will he 
allow his bootmaker to put nearly a pound more into his 
shooting boots than is really necessary? As I have said, the 
weight of the latter is usually not far short of three pounds, 
whereas, two pounds is nearer the weight that is really necessary, 
if the bootmaker is anything of an artist in his business. By 
using one very thick and solid piece of leather for the sole, and 
