22 THE NATURAL HISTORY 



hanger, 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 

 mentioned 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 inferior, of those joint forests, for the time being, 

 and their ostensible 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 con- 

 siderable 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 

 economist, converts the recreation of one animal to the 

 support of another ! Thomson, who was a nice observer 

 of natural occurrences, did not let this pleasing circum- 

 stance 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." 



Wolmer-pond, so called, I suppose, for eminence sake, 

 is a vast lake for this part of the world, containing, in its 



