NATURAL HISTOKY AND SPORT OF BUTE. 



A RATHER curious speculation has sometimes 

 amused me. Had rare old Gilbert White been 

 a sportsman instead of a naturalist only, and had 

 he rented grouse muirs, should we have gained or 

 lost most by his metamorphosis ? No doubt ' Sel- 

 borne,' the most charming and classic of sketches, 

 might have been less perfectly filled up ; but, on 

 the other hand, if the keen and philosophic eye of 

 this magic painter caught but a passing glimpse 

 of what hundreds regard no more than the " idle 

 wind," what curious theories might have been 

 started, and in what beautiful language would they 

 have been handed down ! 



Power of pitching his tent in the remote wilds, 

 and of removing it as his fancy may prompt, is 



