NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE 21 



Ward le Ham Park, in which stands the curious mount called 

 King John's Hill, and Lodge Hill ; and to the verge of Hart- 

 ley Mauduit, called Mauduit Hatch ; comprehending also 

 Short Heath, Oakhanger, and Oakwoods ; a large district, now 

 private property, though once belonging to the royal domain. 



It is remarkable that the term purlieu is never once men- 

 tioned in this long roll of parchment. It contains, besides the 

 perambulation, a rough estimate of the value of the timbers, 

 which were considerable, growing at that time in the district 

 of the Holt ; and enumerates the officers, superior and infe- 

 rior, of those joint forests, for the time being, and their osten- 

 sible fees and perquisites. In those days, as at present, there 

 were hardly any trees in Wolmer Forest. 



Within the present limits of the forest are three considera- 

 ble lakes, Hogmer, Cranmer, and Wolmer ; all of which are 

 stocked with carp, tench, eels, and perch : but the fish do not 

 thrive well, because the water is hungry, and the bottoms are 

 a naked sand. 



A circumstance respecting these ponds, though by no means 

 peculiar to them, I cannot pass over in silence ; and that is, 

 that instinct by which in summer all the kine, whether oxen, 

 cows, calves, or heifers, retire constantly to the water during 

 the hotter hours ; where, being more exempt from flies, and 

 inhaling the coolness of that element, some belly deep, and 

 some only to mid-leg, they ruminate and solace themselves 

 from about ten in the morning till four in the afternoon, and 

 then return to their feeding. During this great proportion of 

 the day they drop much dung, in which insects nestle ; and so 

 supply food for the fish, which would be poorly subsisted but 

 from this contingency. Thus Nature, who is a great econo- 

 mist, converts the recreation of one animal to the support of 

 another ! Thomson, who was a nice observer of natural occur- 

 rences, did not let this pleasing circumstance escape him. He 

 says, in his " Summer," 



" A various group the herds and flocks compose ; 



on the grassy bank 



Some ruminating lie ; while others stand 

 Half in the flood, and, often bending, sip 

 The circling surface." 



