NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE 15 



These rugged gloomy scenes 1 affright the ladies when they 

 peep down into them from the paths above, and make timid 

 horsemen shudder while they ride along them ; but delight 

 the naturalist with their various botany, and particularly 

 with their curious filices with which they abound. 



The manor of Selborne, was it strictly looked after, with 

 all its kindly aspects, and all its sloping coverts, would 

 swarm with game ; even now hares, partridges, and 

 pheasants abound ; and in old days woodcocks were as 

 plentiful. There are few quails, because they more affect 

 open fields than enclosures ; after harvest some few land- 

 rails are seen. 



The parish of Selborne, by taking in so much of the 

 forest, is a vast district. Those who tread the bounds are 

 employed part of three days in the business, and are of 

 opinion that the outline, in all its curves and indentings, 

 does not comprise less than thirty miles. 



The village stands in a sheltered spot, secured by The 

 Hanger from the strong westerly winds. The air is soft, 

 but rather moist from the effluvia of so many trees ; 2 yet 

 perfectly healthy and free from agues. 



The quantity of rain that falls on it is very consider- 

 able, as may be supposed in so woody and mountainous a 

 district. As my experience in measuring the water is but 

 of short date, I am not qualified to give the mean quantity. 3 



1 "Scences," 1st ed., p. 11. [R. B. S.] 



2 See Letter XXIX to Daines Barrington. [R. B. S.] 



3 A very intelligent gentleman assures me (and he speaks from upwards of 

 forty years experience), that the mean rain of any place cannot be ascertained till 

 a person has measured it for a very long period. " If I had only measured the 

 rain," says he, "for the four first years, from 1740 to 1743, I should have said 

 the mean rain at Lyndon was l6 inches for the year ; if from 1740 to 1750, 1 8 

 inches. The mean rain before 1763 was 20^ inches, from 1763 and since 25^ 

 inches, from 1770 to 1780, 26 inches. If only 1773, 1774, an( i J 775 had been 

 measured, Lyndon mean rain would have been called 32 inches." [G. W.] 



Gilbert White's correspondent at Lyndon was Thomas Barker, "of an 

 ancient and respectable family " in Rutlandshire, and was White's brother-in-law, 

 having married his sister Anne. Both Thomas Barker and his son Samuel were 

 much esteemed by our author, and many interesting letters from all the parties 

 are to be found in the second volume of Professor Bell's edition. [R. B. S. ] 



