MANOR OF SELBORNE. 15 



V. 



AMONG the singularities of this place, the two 

 rocky hollow lanes, the one to Alton, and the other 

 to the forest, deserve our attention. These roads, 

 running through the malm lands, are, by the 

 traffic of ages, and the fretting of water, worn 

 down through the first stratum of our freestone, 

 and partly through the second ; so that they look 

 more like watercourses than roads ; and are bedded 

 with naked rag for furlongs together. In many 

 places they are reduced sixteen or eighteen feet 

 beneath the level of the fields ; and after floods, 

 and in frosts, exhibit very grotesque and wild ap- 

 pearances, from the tangled roots that are twisted 

 among the strata, and from the torrents rushing 

 down their broken sides ; and especially when those 

 cascades are frozen into icicles, hanging in all the 

 fanciful shapes of frost-work. These rugged 

 gloomy scenes affright the ladies when they peep 

 down into them from the paths above, and make 

 timid horsemen shudder while they ride along 

 them ; but they 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 



