VI.] 



OF SELBORNE. 



15 



they were concealed than on the surrounding morass. Nor does 

 this seem to be a fanciful notion, but consistent with true philo- 

 sophy. Besides the oak, I have also been shown pieces of fossil 

 wood, of a paler colour and softer nature, which the inhabitants 

 called fir : but, upon a nice examination, and trial by fire. 1 

 could discover nothing resinous in them ; and therefore rather 

 suppose that they were parts of a willow or alder, or some 

 such aquatic tree. 



This lonely domain is a very agreeable haunt for many sorts 

 of wild fowls, which not only frequent it in the winter, but 





OLD COACH KOAD, LEADING INTO THE VILLAGE. 



breed there in the summer ; such as lapwings, snipes, wild 

 ducks, and, as I have discovered within these few years, teals. 

 Partridges in vast plenty are bred in good seasons on the verge 

 of this forest, into which they love to make excursions : and 

 in particular in the dry summer of 1740 and 1741, and some 

 years after, they swarmed to such a degree that parties of un- 

 reasonable sportsmen killed twenty and sometimes thirty brace 

 in a day. 



