ARTIFICIAL PLIES 427 



from the following description, see the material of which it is com- 

 posed, its color, quality and peculiar character. 



No. 1. Red Palmer Hackle. — Body — Dark red colored mohair, 

 ribbed with gold or silver twist. Hackle — Of the red cock, worked 

 with red silk. Hook — No. 5, 6, or 7. 



No. 2. Peacock Palmer Hackle. — Body — A full fibre of pea«. 

 cock herl. Hackle — Of a dusky red cock, worked with red silk. 

 Hook— No. 5, or 6. 



No. 3. Black Silver Palmer Hackle. — Body — a fibre from a 

 black ostrich feather, ribbed with silver twist. Hackle — Black, wrap- 

 ped over the whole body with black silk for fastenings. Hook — No. 

 5, 6, or 7. 



No. 4. Yellow Palmer Hackle. — The body is made of white 

 hackle dyed yellow. The hackle of yellow silk. Hook — No; 5, 6, or 7. 



No. 5. Black Palmer Hackle. — The body of black ostrich's 

 herl, wrapped with a black cock's hackle. Hook — No. 5, 6, or 7. 



No. 6. Black Palmer Hackle Ribbed with Gold. — The body 

 of peacock's herl, wrapped with a black cock's hackle, and ribbed with 

 gold twist. Hook — No. 5, 6, or 7. 



The flies from No. 1 to 6, inclusive, which I style " Palmer hackles," 

 are known to every " fly-fisher" as most effective in taking Trout ; and 

 as they are intended to represent the larvae or caterpillars of flies, as 

 well as some of the insects themselves, it is evident that their size and 

 color may be varied. In angling vocabulary, the terms " bla'ck hackle," 

 '' red hackle," &c, are almost invariably applied to all flies of the 

 above character ; and it may be, that the above addition of the term 

 " Palmer," may be deemed by many goo'd sportsmen to be an innova- 

 tion upon old-established angling phraseology. I know that criticism 

 should be avoided in the use of fly-fishing terms, which every man 

 knows cannot be justified by any literary rule ; but some angling terms 

 are so glaringly absurd and contradictory, that it seems to me actually 

 necessary to correct evident inconsistencies, when such corrections do 

 not confound or mystify that piscatory learning which time has, as it 

 were authorised as an angling alphabet 



