LETTER X. 1 



To the same. 



August ^th, 1767. 



T has been my misfortune never to have had 

 any neighbours whose studies have led them 

 towards the pursuit of natural knowledge ; 

 so that, for want of a companion to quicken 

 my industry and sharpen my attention, I 

 have made but slender progress in a kind of 

 information to which I have been attached 

 from my childhood. 



As to swallows (hirundines rusticce) being found in a torpid 

 state during the winter in the Isle of Wight or any part of this 

 country, I never heard any such account worth attending to. 



1 With this letter, the first hearing a date, we begin the real series of 

 White's interesting and valuable correspondence with Pennant. See 

 Introduction. The style of the true letters is far superior to that of the 

 artificial, additions. ED. 



