PARHAM. 15 



fore the utilitarian improvements of the nineteenth 

 century, it affords me no small pleasure to record 

 that western Sussex can still boast of one of the 

 most interesting heronries in the south of Eng- 

 land. It is situated at Parham, the seat of the 

 Honourable Robert Curzon : there is not a more 

 beautifully wild and forest-like park in the county ; 

 there, indeed, everything seems imbued with the 

 spirit of the olden time ; from the ancient hall it- 

 self, with its huge grate, and walls hung with an- 

 cestral armour, to the venerable oak trees in the 

 foreground, and the dark woods of Scotch and 

 spruce fir which crown the heathery hills in the 

 distance. 



You may remember that in a former letter I al- 

 luded to the variety and beauty of the scenery in 

 that belt of country, on the sandstone formation, 

 which lies to the north of the Downs, between the 

 latter and the weald, and extends from Rogate, on 

 the borders of Hampshire, across the whole of 

 west Sussex. Parham is situated in this tract, 

 about eight miles, as the crow flies, to the south- 

 east of Petworth, and the greater portion of the 

 intervening country is on the same stratum. 



I lately made an expedition to this heronry 

 during the breeding-season, an account of which 

 may perhaps amuse you. The weather for some 

 months had been cold, wet, and unseasonable, but 



