Part 14

And now to wind up the line. I humbly beg to say that if I have deceived the friends of the rod in anything, they have a right to be indifferent with my profession of friendship, and ought to retain a sensibility of my misfortune; my conscience is clear it is not so, for I know that I would deceive myself were I to think that I could do without my admirable friends of the angle--without me they could do--but I value their worth, as in hope I rest, although they say "hope told a flattering tale." I am not deceived by flattery, be it far from us; I dislike deceit. I have hid nothing; I have done my endeavours in this book to show the youths of the angle, as well as the great fly fishers, all I know about the matter so far, and as the Chinamen say, that "time and industry convert a mulberry leaf into a silk shawl," so perseverance will be the means of the fly maker's success, if he allows himself an opportunity of accomplishing that which he requires to know and to perform, and at the same time neglect not to prepare for the "coming struggle," it will be his own fault if he does not become a skilful angler, &c. I will therefore consider myself highly honoured if the young gentlemen of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, appreciate my labour, and to be enabled, by the natural genius they possess, descending from Him who visited us through the "Orient" from on high to enlighten our understandings in every good, to find out the information they desire in the perusal of these pages.

FINIS.

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Transcriber's Notes:

Obvious punctuation errors repaired.

Book uses both pearl-ash and pearl ash; salmon-fly and salmon fly. Varied hyphenation was retained. Text also uses archaic spelling, "scissars".

Page vii, "cloured" changed to "coloured" (buff-coloured fur and)

Page viii, "surperbly" changed to "superbly" (superbly painted to suit)

Page viii, "Britian" changed to "Britain" (any river in Britain)

Page 15, "growse" changed to "grouse" to match rest of usage (grouse hackle prepared)

Page 23, "pains" changed to "pain" (with a little pain)

Page 36, word "to" added to text (next to the root)

Page 75, "woodcook" changed to "woodcock" (woodcock or wren grackle)

Page 148, "hymalean" changed to "Hymalean" (hen Hymalean pheasant is an)

Page 166, "Arklaw" changed to "Arklow" (Arklow, on the river Ovoca)