OF SELBORNE 25 



penalties that have been put in force against them as often 

 as they have been detected, and rendered liable to the lash 

 of the law. Neither fines nor imprisonments can deter 

 them : so impossible is it to extinguish the spirit of sport- 

 ing, which seems to be inherent in human nature. 



General Howe turned out some German wild boars and 

 sows in his forests, to the great terror of the neighbour- 

 hood; and, at one time, a wild bull or buffalo: but the 

 country rose upon them and destroyed them. 



A very large fall of timber, consisting of about one 

 thousand oaks, has been cut this spring (viz. 1784) in The 

 Holt forest ; one fifth of which, it is said, belongs to the 

 grantee, Lord Stawel. He lays claim also to the lop and 

 top : but the poor of the parishes of Binsted and Frinsham, 

 Bentley and Kingsley, assert that it belongs to them ; and, 

 assembling in a riotous manner, have actually taken it all 

 away. One man, who keeps a team, has carried home, for 

 his share, forty stacks of wood. Forty-five of these people 

 his lordship has served with actions. These trees, which 

 were very sound and in high perfection, were winter-cut, 

 viz. in February and March, before the bark would run. 

 In old times The Holt was estimated to be eighteen miles, 

 computed measure, from water-carriage, viz. from the 

 town of Chertsey, on the Thames ; but now it is not half 

 that distance, since the Wey is made navigable up to the 

 town of Godalming in the county of Surrey. 



LETTER X 



TO THOMAS PENNANT, ESQUIRE 



August 4, 1767. 



It has been my misfortune never to have had any neigh- 

 bours whose studies have led them towards the pursuit of 

 natural knowledge ; so that, for want of a companion to 

 quicken my industry and sharpen my attention, I have 



