OF SELBORNE. 17 



oak, 1 have also been shewn 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, I could dis- 

 cover 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 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 



" and the tops of walls." See Hales's HsBmastatlcs, p, 360. Quere, 

 Might not such observations be reduced to domestic use, by promoting the 

 discovery of old obliterated drains and wells about houses ; and in Roman 

 stations and camps lead to the finding of pavements, baths and graves, 

 and other hidden relics of curious antiquity? 



* [The discovery of bog-oak and other woods in the peat of Wolmer 

 Forest is now more rare than it was formerly, in consequence of the old 

 custom of digging peat for fuel being now forbidden. The extensive 

 excavations which have been made by the Rev. George Cardew in the 

 formation of the large lake already alluded to, have, however, been the 

 means of bringing to light considerable quantities of these interesting sub- 

 stances, of which Mr. Cardew has kindly furnished me with the follow- 

 ing details : " In the entire of the bog which is still in part the floor of 

 my lake at ' The Wilds,' a very large quantity of wood in a charred or 

 carbonized state was found. Alder, fir (apparently Scotch), birch, and 

 hazel were the most abundant kinds, and these I repeatedly saw myself. 

 I often asked the excavators whether they had found any oak, and they 

 always said they had, though not in any abundance. I cannot recollect 

 having seen any myself; but I may have done so. ... The peat deposit 

 consisted mainly of myriads of small twigs and matted leaves. Not only 

 the cones of the firs were preserved in great numbers, but also between 

 the layers of the 'tightly compressed leaves the seeds of the birch and 

 alder were to be discerned in myriads, with other interesting things, such 

 as the nuts of the hazel, sometimes squirrel-gnawed or split, and frag- 

 ments of beetles and other insects." Mr. Cardew adds facts which appear 

 to him satisfactory evidence of repeated conflagrations in the ancient 

 forest T. B.] 







