NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 23 



LETTER VIII. 



TO THE SAME. 



ON the verge of the forest, as it is now circumscribed, are three 

 considerable lakes, two in Oakhanger, of which I have nothing 

 particular to say ; and one called Bin's, or Bean's Pond, which is 

 worthy the attention of a naturalist or a sportsman. For being 

 crowded at the upper end with willows, and with the carex cespi- 

 tosa,* it affords such a safe and pleasing shelter to wild ducks, teals, 

 snipes, &c., that they breed there. In the winter this covert is also 

 frequented by foxes, and sometimes by pheasants ; and the bogs 

 produce many curious plants. (For which consult Letter XLI. to 

 Mr. Barrington.)-j- 



By a perambulation of Wolmer Forest and the Holt, made in 

 1635, and the eleventh year of Charles the First (which now lies 

 before me), it appears that the limits of the former are much cir- 

 cumscribed. For, to say nothing of the farther side, with which I 

 am not so well acquainted, the bounds on. this side, in old times, 

 came into Binswood ; and extended to the ditch of Ward le Ham 

 Park, in which stands the curious mount called King John's Hill, 

 and Lodge Hill; and to the verge of Hartley Mauduit, called 

 Mauduit Hatch ; comprehending also Short Heath, Oakhanger, 

 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, 



* I mean that sort which, rising into tall hassocks, is called by the foresters torrets ; a 

 corruption, I suppose, of turrets. 



NOTE. In the beginning of the summer 1787, the royal forests of Wolmer and Holt 

 were measured by persons sent down by government. 



t Here is one of those records so useful in a local history. We learn from Mr. Bennet's 

 edition, that Bin's Pond has been drained, and that cattle now graze upon its bed. The 

 character of the place, so correctly yet simply described in this letter, has thus been com- 

 pletely altered, and we see improvement working out the changes alluded to in the note 

 to p. 15. It would be in vain now to look for the plants, or for the water-fowl that 

 found there a '* pleasing shelter." The hassocks of carex alluded to formed a very 

 marked feature in such a place ; they are most uncomfortable to walk among, and form 

 a complete cover and shelter to various animals and birds. From age and successive 

 growths, they form high "torrets" with a solid base. The foliage hangs down, and a 

 covered way is formed underneath, where young water-fowl, water-rails, &c., can run and 

 escape detection for a long time, even from a dog. 



