nearly parallel with the tops of them: afterwards take the silk, and hold it likewise about the middle of it, with your hook, one part laying along the inside of it to your left hand, the other to the right; then take that part of the silk which lies towards your right hand, between the forefinger and thumb of that hand, and holding that part towards your left, tight along the inside of the hook, whip that to the right, three or four times round the shank of the hook towards the right hand; after which take the silk worm-gut, and lay either of its ends along the inside of the shank of the hook, till it comes near the bend of it: then hold the hook, silk, and gut tight between the fore-finger and thumb of your left hand, and afterwards give that part of the silk to your right hand, three or four whips more over both hook and gut till it comes near the end of the shank, and make a loop and fasten it tight: then whip it neatly again over both silk, gut, and hook, till it comes near the bend of the hook: after which make another loop, and fasten it again: then, if the gut should reach farther than the bend of the hook, cut it off, and your hook will be whipped on and the parts of the silk hang from the bend of it.

Having proceeded so far, wax the longest end of the silk again, and take three or four strands of an ostrich's feather, and holding them and the hook, as in the first position, the feathers to the left hand, and the roots of them in the bend of the hook, with the silk that you waxed last, whip them three or four times round, make a loop, and fasten them tight; then turning the strands to the right hand, and twisting them and the silk together, with the fore-finger and thumb of your right hand, wind them round the shank of the hook till you come to:

the place where you first fastened, then make a loop and fasten them again; if the strands should not be long enough to wind as far as is necessary round the shank, when the silk gets bare you must twist others on it. Having performed this, take your scissars and cut the body of the palmer into an oval form, that is, small at the bend and the end of the shank, but full in the centre; do not cut too much of the dubbing off. Now both the ends of the silk are separated, one at the bend, another at the end of the shank, wax them both again; then take the hackle, hold the small end of it between the fore-finger and thumb of your left hand, and stroke the fibres of it with those of your right the contrary way from which they are formed; hold your hook as in the first position, and place the point of the hackle in its bend, with that side which grows nearest the cock upwards, and then whip it tight to the hook; but in fastening it, tie as few fibres as you can possibly avoid the hackle being fast, take it by the great end, and keeping the side nearest the cock to the left hand, begin with your right hand to wind it up the shank upon the dubbing, stopping every second turn, and holding what you have wound tight with your left fingers, whilst with the needle you pick out the fibres you will unavoidably take in; proceed in this manner till you come to the place where you first fastened, and where an end of the silk is then clip off those fibres of the hackle which you held between your finger and thumb, close to the stem, and hold the stem close to the hook; afterwards take the silk in your right hand, and whip the stem very fast to the hook: then make a loop, and fasten it tight: take your penknife, and if that part of the stem next the shank

:

of the hook is as long as a part of the hook which is bare, pare it fine, wax you silk, and bind it neatly on the remaining bare part of the hook: then fasten the silk tight, and spread some shoemaker's wax very lightly on your last binding: after that clip off the ends of the remaining silk, both at the shank and bend of the hook, and all fibres that start or stand ill-conditioned, and the. whole is completed.

This is called the palmer-fly or plain hackle, and may, instead of the ostrich's feather abovementioned, be dubbed with black spaniel's fur, and is a very excellent killer. There are three more palmers, which are all to be made in the same manner as I have laid down, only with different articles, which are as follow:

great palmer, or hackle.

Dubbed the same as the plain hackle with the strands off an ostrich's feather, or a black spaniel's fur, and warped with red peacock's hackle, untrimmed, that is, leaving the whole length of the hackle staring out (for sometimes the fibres of the hackle are to be shortened all over, sometimes barbed only a little, and sometimes close underneath) leaving the whole length of fibres on the top, or back of the fly, which makes it swim better, and, on a whirling ground water, kills great fish. Your hook for this palmer, No. 5.

GOLDEN PALMER, OR HACKLE.

The same dubbing, ribbed with gold twist, and a red hackle over all.

SILVER HACKLE.

Made with a black body also, silver twist over that, and a red hackle over all.

The variation that is to be observed in making the gold and silver palmer is this, that when you whip the end of the hackle to the bend of the hook, you must also do the same to the gold or silver twist, and first wind either of them on the dubbing, observing that they lie flat on it, and then fasten off; afterwards proceed with the hackle as directed: or you may wind the hackle on the dubbing first, and rib the body with either of the twists afterwards.

These are the standard hackles in fly-fishing, and are taken any month in the year, from nine to eleven in the morning, and from one to three in the evening, and upon any water; though you must have different sizes of them, and dubbed with different colours, that you may always be able to suit either a clear or a dark water, or a bright and cloudy atmosphere; observing, that small light-coloured flies are for clear waters and skies, and the largest for dark and cloudy ones.

These palmers (as I said before) being taken every month in the year, when I come to treat of the flies proper for each month, I shall not take any notice again of the four which I have set down, for that would be totally unnecessary; but the others which deviate in their size and dubbing from the general rule, will be fully expressed.

The angler should always try the palmers first, when he fishes in a river that he is unaccustomed to; and even in that which he constantly uses, without he knows what fly is on the water, and

they should never be changed till he does; the only way to come to the true knowledge of which, he must observe an old-established rule laid down for that purpose; and as it is poetically described by Mr. Gay, I shall give it him in that dress.

Mark well the various seasons of the year,
How the succeeding insect race appear;
In this revolving moon one colour reigns,
Which in the next the fickle trout disdains.
Oft have I seen a skilful angler try

The various colours of the treacherous fly;
When he with fruitless pain hath skimm'd the brook,
And the coy fish rejects the skipping hook,
He shakes the boughs, that on the margin grow,
Which o'er the stream a waving forest throw;
When if an insect fall (his certain guide)
He gently takes him from the whirling tide:
Examines well his form with curious eyes,
His gaudy vest, his wings, his horns, and size;
Then round his hook the chosen fur he winds,
And on the back a speckled feather binds;
So just the colours shine through every part,
That Nature seems to live again in art.

THE BEST METHOD TO MAKE AN ARTIFICIAL FLY NOT A PALMER.

First hold your hook fast betwixt the forefinger and thumb of your left hand, with the back of the shank upwards, and the point towards your right hand; then take a strong small silk, of the colour most predominant in the fly you intend to make, wax it well with the wax of the same colour, and draw it between your finger and thumb to the head of the shank, then whip it twice or thrice about the bare hook, which prevent its slipping, and the shank of the hook from cutting the gut: which being done, take your gut and draw it likewise between your fin