4 THE NATURAL HISTORY 



view, being an assemblage of hill, dale, wood-lands, heath, 

 and water. The prospect is bounded to the south-east 

 and east by the vast range of mountains called The Sussex 

 Downs, by Guild-down near Guildford, and by the Downs 

 round Dorking, and Ryegate in Surrey, to the north-east, 

 which altogether, with the country beyond Alton and 

 Farnham, form a noble and extensive outline. 



At the foot of this hill, one stage or step from the 

 uplands, lies the village, which consists of one single 

 straggling street, three quarters of a mile in length, in a 

 sheltered vale, and running parallel with The Hanger. 

 The houses are divided from the hill by a vein of stiff clay 

 (good wheat-land), yet stand on a rock of white stone, 

 little in appearance removed from chalk ; but seems so far 

 from being calcarious, that it endures extreme heat. Yet 

 that the freestone still preserves somewhat that is analogous 

 to chalk, is plain from the beeches which descend as low as 

 those rocks extend, and no farther, and thrive as well on 

 them, where the ground is steep, as on the chalks. 



The cart-way of the village divides, in a remarkable 

 manner, two very incongruous soils. To the south-west 

 is a rank clay, that requires the labour of years to render 

 it mellow ; while the gardens to the north-east, and small 

 enclosures behind, consist of a warm, forward, crumbling 

 mould, called black malm, which seems highly saturated 

 with vegetable and animal manure ; and these may perhaps 

 have been the original site of the town ; while the wood 

 and coverts might extend down to the opposite bank. 



At each end of the village, which runs from south-east 

 to north-west, arises a small rivulet : that at the north- 

 west end frequently fails : but the other is a fine perennial 

 spring little influenced by drought or wet seasons, called 

 Well-head. 1 This breaks out of some high grounds join- 

 ing to Nore Hill, a noble chalk promontory, remarkable 



1 This spring produced, September 14, 1781, after a severe hot 

 summer, and a preceding dry spring and winter, nine gallons of water in 

 a minute, which is five hundred and forty in an hour, and twelve 

 thousand nine hundred and sixty, or two hundred and sixteen hogsheads, 

 in twenty-four hours, or one natural day. At this time many of the 

 wells failed, and all the ponds in the vales were dry. 



