288 NATURE IN DOWNLAND 



this part of downland, as it was his custom when 

 travelling to Ringnier to break his journey at Chil- 

 grove, a charming spot among the downs about 

 midway between Petersfield and Chichester, and at 

 Shopwyke House, close to Chichester. Chilgrove 

 Manor was owned by his friend, Mr. Woods, who gave 

 White the information about the stone-curlews on the 

 downs; and Shopwyke House was owned by another 

 member of the Woods family, who was Gilbert White's 

 relation by marriage. The present squire of Chilgrove 

 is a grandson of White's friend. During my rambles 

 in this part I paid two visits to Chilgrove House, 

 which has been rebuilt since White's time, and retain 

 very pleasant recollections of the kind and gracious 

 members of the family I saw there. 



But if there remains anything of interest to be 

 said about White's intercourse with the Woods family 

 and his connection with this part of Sussex, it will 

 doubtless be told by my friend Dr. Bowdler Sharpe in 

 the new edition of the Letters he is preparing for the 

 press. We have lately had a good many editions of 

 White ; but this will be definitive one which every 

 British naturalist will feel obliged to add to his 

 collection; and with this book, and the exhaustive 

 Life lately contributed to the Dictionary of National 

 Biography by Professor Alfred Newton, on our shelves, 

 there will be, I imagine, a slackening of the hunt after 

 fresh materials, since there can be but little left to 

 reward even the most diligent gleaner. 



