small peascod, which had fourteen legs; eight on the belly, four under the neck, and two near the tail. It was found on a hedge of privet; and was taken thence, and put into a large box, and a little branch or two of privet put to it, on which I saw it feed as sharply as a dog gnaws a bone: it lived thus, five or six days, and thrived, and changed the colour two or three times, but by some neglect in the keeper of it, it then died, and did not turn to a fly: but if it had lived, it had doubtless turned to one of those flies that some call flies of prey, which those that walk by the rivers may, in summer, see fasten on smaller flies, and, I think, make them their food. And 'tis observable, that as there be these flies of prey, which be very large, so there be others, very little, created, I think, only to feed them, and breed out of I know not what; whose life, they say, nature intended not to exceed an hour; † and yet that life is thus made shorter by other flies, or by accident.

'Tis endless to tell you what the curious searchers into nature's productions have observed of these worms and flies: but yet I shall tell you what Aldrovandus, our Topsel, and others, say of the Palmer-worm, or Caterpillar: that whereas others content themselves to feed on particular herbs or leaves (for most think those very leaves that gave them life and shape give them a particular feeding and nourishment, and that upon them they usually abide ;) yet he observes, that this is called a Pilgrim, or Palmer-worm, for his very wandering life and various food; not contenting himself, as others do, with any one certain place for his abode, nor any certain kind of herbs or flowers for his feeding, but will boldly and disorderly wander up and down, and not endure to be kept to a diet, or fixed to a particular place. ‡

Nay, the very colours of Caterpillars are, as one has observed, very elegant and beautiful. I shall, for a taste of the rest, describe one of them; which I will, some time the next month, shew you feeding on a willow tree; and you shall find him punctually to answer this very description: His lips and mouth somewhat yellow; his eyes black as jet; his forehead purple ; his feet and hinder parts green; his tail two-forked and black; the whole body stained with a kind of red spots, which run along the neck and shoulder-blade, not unlike the form of St Andrew's cross, or the letter X, made thus cross-wise, and a white line drawn down his back to his tail; all which add much beauty to his whole body. And it is to me observable,

The Caterpillar of the Privet Hawk Moth, (Sphinx Ligustri,) which is not, as Walton suspects, a fly of prey, or Dragon-fly.-J. R. + This is quite fabulous.-J. R.

These absurd notions arose from confounding some hundreds of species under one common name.-J. R.

that at a fixed age this caterpillar gives over to eat, and toward's winter comes to be covered over with a strange shell or crust, called an aurelia: and so lives a kind of dead life, without eating, all the winter. And as others of several kinds turn to be several kinds of flies and vermin, the spring following, 80 this caterpillar then turns to be a painted butterfly

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Come, come, my scholar, you see the river stops our morning walk and I will also here stop my discourse: only as we si down under this honeysuckle hedge, whilst I look a line to fit the rod that our brother Peter hath lent you, I shall, for a little confirmation of what I have said, repeat the observation of Du Bartas [6 Day ;]

God, not contented to each kind to give
And to infuse the virtue generative,

By his wise power made many creatures breed
Of lifeless bodies, without Venus' deed:

So the cold humour breeds the Salamander,
Who, in effect, like to her birth's commander,
With child with hundred winters, with her touch
Quenches the fire, though glowing ne'er so much.
So in the fire, in burning furnace, springs
The fly Perausta with the flaming wings;
Without the fire it dies, in it joys,

Living in that which all things else destroys,

So slow Bootes underneath him sees,

In th' icy islands, goslings hatch'd of trees;
Whose fruitful leaves falling into the water,
Are turn'd, 'tis known, to living fowls soon after

So rotten planks of broken ships do change
To barnacles. O transformation strange
Twas first a green tree, then a broken hull,
Lately a mushroom now a flying gull.

Venator. Oh, my good master, this morning walk has been spent to my great pleasure and wonder; but I pray, when shall I have your direction how to make artificial flies, like to those that the Trout loves best; and, also, how to use them?

Piscator. My honest scholar, it is now past five of the clock; we will fish till nine; and then go to breakfast. Go you to yonder sycamore tree, and hide your bottle of drink under the hollow root of it; for about that time, and in that place, we will make a brave breakfast with a piece of powdered beef, and a radish or too, that I have in my fish bag: we shall, I warrant you, make a good, honest, wholesome hungry breakfast. And I will then give you direction for the making and using of your flies: and in the meantime, there is your rod and line: and my advice is, that you fish as you see me do, and let 's try which can catch the first fish.

Venator. I thank you, master. I will observe and practise your directions as far as I am able.

Piscator. Look you, scholar; you see I have hold of a good fish: I now see it is a Trout. pray, put that net under him; and touch not my line, for if you do, then we break all.* Well done, scholar: I thank you.

Now for another. Trust me, I have another bite. Come, scholar, come, lay down your rod, and help me to land this as you did the other. So now we shall be sure to have a good dish of fish to supper.

Venator. I am glad of that; but I have no fortune: sure, master, yours is a better rod and better tackling.

Piscator. Nay, then, take mine; and I will fish with yours. Look you, scholar, I have another. Come do as you did before. And now I have a bite at another. Oh me! he has broke all . there's half a line, and a good hook lost.

Venator. Ay, and a good Trout too.

Piscator. Nay, the Trout is not lost; for pray take notice, no man can lose what he never had.

Venator. Master, I can neither catch with the first nor second angle: I have no fortune.

Piscator. Look you, scholar, I have yet another. And now, having caught three brace of Trouts, I will tell you a short tale as we walk towards our breakfast. A scholar, a preacher I should say, that was to preach, to procure the approbation of a parish that he might be their lecturer, had got from his fellow pupil the copy of a sermon that was first preached with great commmendation by him that composed it; and though the borrower of it preached it, word for word, as it was at first,

This is an important maxim in angling; for while the line flows free from the rod, this gives way by bending as the fish tugs; while catching the line is certain to snap it..

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yet it was utterly disliked as it was preached by the second to his congregation, which the sermon borrower complained of to the lender of it, and thus was answered: "I lent you, indeed, my fiddle, but not my fiddlestick; for you are to know, that every one cannot make music with my words, which are fitted for my own mouth." And so, my scholar, you are to know, that as the ill pronunciation or ill accenting of words in a sermon spoils it, so the ill carriage of your line, or not fishing, even to a foot, in a right place, makes you lose your labour and you are to know, that though you have my fiddle, that is, my very rod and tacklings with which you see I catch fish, yet you have not my fiddlestick, that is, you yet have not skill to know how to carry your hand and line, nor how to guide it to a right place and this must be taught you; for you are to remember, I told you angling is an art, either by practice or a long observation, or both. But take this for a rule: When you fish for a Trout with a worm, let your line have so much, and not more lead than will fit the stream in which you fish; that is to say, more in a great troublesome stream than in a smaller that is quieter; as near as may be, so much as will sink the bait to the bottom, and keep it still in motion, and not more.

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But now, let's say grace, and fall to breakfast. What say you, scholar, to the providence of an old angler? Does not this meat taste well? and was not this place well chosen to eat it? for this sycamore tree will shade us from the sun's heat.

Venator. All excellent good; and my stomach excellent good, too. And now I remember, and find that true which devout Lessius says, "that poor men, and those that fast often, have much more pleasure in eating than rich men and gluttons, that always feed before their stomachs are empty of their last meat, and call for more; for by that means they rob themselves of that pleasure that hunger brings to poor men." And I do seriously approve of that saying of yours, "that you had rather be a civil, well governed, well grounded, temperate poor angler, than a drunken lord:" but I hope there is none such. However, I am certain of this, that I have been at many very costly dinners that have not afforded me half the content that this has done; for which I thank God and you.

And now, good master, proceed to your promised direction for making and ordering my artificial fly.

Piscator. My honest scholar, I will do it; for it is a debt due unto you by my promise. And because you shall not think yourself more engaged to me than you really are, I will freely give you such directions as were lately given to me by an ingenious brother of the angle, an honest man and a most excellent fly fisher.

You are to note, that there are twelve kinds of artificial made

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flies, to angle with upon the top of the water. Note, by the way, that the fittest season of using these is a blustering windy day, when the waters are so troubled that the natural fly cannot be seen, or rest upon them. The first is the Dun-fly, in March the body is made of dun wool; the wings, of the partridge's feathers. The second is another Dun-fly: the body of black wool; and the wings made of the black drake's feathers, and of the feathers under his tail. The third is the Stone-fly, in April: the body is made of black wool; made yellow under the wings and under the tail, and so made with wings of the drake. The fourth is the Ruddy-fly, in the beginning of May: the body made of red wool, wrapt about with black silk; and the feathers are the wings of the drake: with the feathers of a red capon also, which hang dangling on his sides next to the tail. The fifth is the Yellow or Greenish, in May likewise: the body made of yellow wool; and the wings made of the red cock's hackle or tail. The sixth is the Black-fly, in May also: the body made of black wool, and lapped about like the herl of a peacock's tail: the wings are made of the wings of a brown capon, with his blue feathers in his head. The seventh is the sad Yellow-fly, in June: the body is made of black wool, with a yellow list on either side; and the wings taken off the wings of a buzzard, bound with black braked hemp. The eighth is the Moorish-fly: made with the body of duskish wool; and the wings made of the blackish mail of the drake. The ninth is the Tawnyfly, good until the middle of June: the body made of tawny wool; the wings made contrary, one against the other, made of the whitish mail of the wild drake. The tenth is the Wasp-fly, in July: the body made of black wool, lapt about with yellow silk; the wings made of the feathers of the drake, or of the buzzard. The eleventh is the Shell-fly, good in mid July: the body made of greenish wool, lapt about with the herl of a peacock's tail; and the wings made of the wings of the Buzzard. The twelfth is the Dark Drake-fly, good in August: the body made with black wool, lapt about with black silk; his wings are made with the mail of the black drake, with a black head. Thus have you a jury of flies, likely to betray and condemn all the Trouts in the river.

I shall next give you some other directious for fly-fishing, such as are given by Mr Thomas Barker,* a gentleman that

This gentleman, addressing himself to the noble lord to whom his book is dedicated, thus begins:

-"Under favour, I will compliment, and put a case to your nonour. I met with a man; and upon our discourse he fell out with me, having a good weapon, but neither stomach nor skill: I say this man may come home by Weeping-cross; I will cause the clerk to toll his knell. It is the very like case to the gentleman angler, that goeth to the river for his pleasure. This angler hath neither judgment, nor experience; he may