OF SELBORNE. 11 



LETTER V. 



TO THE SAME. 



AMONG the singularities of this place the two rocky hollow 

 lanes, the one to Alton, and the other to the forest, deserve our 

 attention. These roads, running through the malm lands, are, 

 by the traffick of ages, and the fretting of water, worn down 

 through the first stratum of our freestone, and partly through 

 the second ; so that they look more like water-courses than 

 roads ; and are bedded with naked rag for furlongs together. 

 In many places they are reduced sixteen or eighteen feet 

 beneath the level of the fields ; and after floods, and in frosts, 

 exhibit very grotesque and wild appearances, from the tangled 

 roots that are twisted among the strata, and from the torrents 

 rushing down their broken sides ; and especially when those 

 cascades are frozen into icicles, hanging in all the fanciful 

 shapes of frost-work. These rugged gloomy scenes affright 

 the ladies when they peep down into them from the paths 

 above, and make timid horsemen shudder while they ride 

 along them ; but delight the naturalist with their various bo- 

 tany, and particularly with their curious filices with which 

 they abound. 



The manor of Selborne, was it strictly looked after, with all 

 it's kindly aspects, and all it's sloping coverts, would swarm 

 with game ; even now hares, partridges, and pheasants abound; 

 and in old days woodcocks were as plentiful. There are few 

 quails, because they more affect open fields than enclosures ; 

 after harvest some few land-rails are seen. 



The parish of Selborne, by taking in so much of the forest, 

 is a vast district. Those who tread the bounds are employed 

 part of three days in the business, and are of opinion that the 

 outline, in all its curves and indentings, does not comprise 

 less than thirty miles. 



The village stands in a sheltered spot, secured by The 



