274 A TRIP TO SEI-BORNE.' 



■welcome shade after our walk in the sun^ the heat of which was intense^ 

 was peculiarly refreshing; and this brings me to the whilom residence of 

 the Reverend historian of the village, which, from this point, that is, im- 

 mediately beneath the Hanger, looks lovely; it is the view of it taken by 

 Mr. Harvey, and engraved in Mr. Bennett's edition. It stands here in a 

 miniature Park, with some fine trees, and verdant sward, and a small piece 

 of water in the centre; but the front, properly so called, faces close upon 

 the village street, and here, I confess, I could have wished that it had not 

 done so; perhaps this was merely because it did not accord with my pre- 

 conceived idea of the locality, and so let it pass; it has now become the 

 property of Mr. Bell, the well known dentist, whose professional avocations 

 only permit him to taste the pleasures of this rural retreat once in the seven 

 days, so I did not see more than the exterior, which likewise appears of late 

 to have received a small addition, apparently in ofiices. 



In the course of our ramble, I found a nice specimen of the delicate Fern 

 known as Gistopteris fragilis, but as I had no instrument with me fitted for 

 the purpose, I got it up but imperfectly, and it survived my return but a 

 few days; I was, however, more successful in a fine specimen of the Hart's 

 Tongue Fern, {ScoJopendriuvi vuJgare^ which is now flourishing in my sister's 

 collection, at Sunninghill, and apparently did not miss the moving; I also saw 

 some Club and other Mosses, which we do not ordinarily meet with in any 

 but heavy clays, however there is a tendency to this formation in particular 

 parts of this district. Gilbert White only alludes to the Ferns generally, as 

 FiUces; indeed, at that time, they were not so much a study as at present. 

 There are two streams which water this sequestered spot, one crossing the 

 path as you enter the village from the north, and the other at the further 

 end; and indeed, I do not know, that the first does not form a portion of the 

 second; but in dry seasons, the water soaks up, so that it becomes exhausted 

 or absorbed before it reaches the lower ground. Now, indeed, the lower one 

 was dry, and then, further, a "well-head," as it is called, flowing out of the 

 hill near the Zigzag, did not run with great volume, though freely. 



The soil appeared very productive, and the crops, of wheat chiefly, excellent; 

 some few hop grounds there were, but this year there has been an almost total 

 failure of the crop; and we only saw one lot of vines along the whole vale 

 of Alton with fruit upon them. The village has of late years been enriched 

 with a new Vicarage of white brick, and a handsome house it is. I wan- 

 dered in the church-yard, and found a sprig of the Yew tree cut off, which 

 I secured as a memento, and a portion of the frontal bone of a skull of 

 some of the inhabitants, whose it would be difficult to say, but it did not 

 appear very ancient. The Plestor is a three-cornered piece of ground partially 

 covered with turf, abutting on the high-road or street, and forming a frontage 

 to the church, which stands just beyond it, and surrounded with houses — 

 one a neat linen-draper's shop. The inhabitants appear to be quite rustic, 

 and owing, I suppose, to the very strong reflection from the white surface 



