42 The Natural History of Selborne 



of the law. Neither fines nor imprisonments can deter 

 them ; so impossible is it to extinguish the spirit of sporting 

 which seems to be inherent in human nature. 



General Howe turned out some German wild boars and 

 sows in his forests, to the great terror of the neighbourhood, 

 and, at one time, a wild bull or buffalo ; but the country rose 

 upon them and destroyed them. 



A very large fall of timber, consisting of about one thou- 

 sand oaks, has been cut this spring (viz., 1784) in the Holt 

 forest : one fifth of which, it is said, belongs to the grantee, 

 Lord Stawell. He lays claim also to the lop and top; 

 but the poor of the parishes of Binsted and Frinsham 

 [Frensham], Bentley and Kingsley, assert that it belongs to 

 them, and assembling in a riotous manner, have actually 

 taken it all away. One man, who keeps a team, has carried 

 home for his share forty sacks of wood. Forty-five of these 

 people his lordship has served with actions. These trees, 

 which were very sound and in high perfection, were winter- 

 cut, viz., in February and March, before the bark would 

 run. In old times the Holt was estimated to be eighteen 

 miles, computed measure from water-carriage, viz., from the 

 town of Chertsey, on the Thames ; but now it is not half that 

 distance, since the Wey is made navigable up to the town of 

 Godalming in the county of Surrey. 



