30 SWALLOWS. 



boars and sows in his forests, to the great terror 

 of the neighbourhood ; and, at one time, a wild 

 bull, or buffalo ; but the country rose upon them, 

 and destroyed them. 



A very large fall of timber, consisting of about 

 one thousand oaks, has been cut this spring (viz. 

 1784) in the Holt Forest; one-fifth of which, it 

 is said, belongs to the grantee, Lord Stawel. He 

 lays claim also to the lop and top ; but the poor 

 of the parishes of Binsted and Frinsham, Bentley 

 and Kingsley, assert that it belongs to them : and, 

 assembling in a riotous manner, have actually 

 taken it all away. One man, who keeps a team, has 

 carried home for his share forty stacks of wood. 

 Forty-five of these people his lordship has served 

 with actions. These trees, which were very sound, 

 and in high perfection, were winter-cut, viz. in 

 February and March, before the bark would run. 

 In old times, the Holt was estimated to be eigh- 

 teen miles, computed measure, from water-carriage, 

 viz. from the town of Chertsey, on the Thames, 

 but now it is not half that distance, since the "Wey 

 is made navigable up to the town of Godalming, 

 in the countv of Surrey. 



IT has been my misfortune never to have had 

 any neighbours whose studies have led them to- 

 wards the pursuit of natural knowledge ; so that, 

 for want of a companion to quicken my industry 

 and sharpen my attention, I have made but slender 

 progress in a kind of information to which I have 

 been attached from my childhood. 



As to swallows (hirundines rusticce) being found 

 in a torpid state during the winter in the Isle of 

 Wight, or any part of this country, I never heard 



