CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 175 



of Elba. Their return from Kolle in Novem r last was singular 

 enough. Not daring to venture thro' France, they set out for 

 Basle : here they went 50 miles to the right to see the falls of 

 Schaffhausen ! ! When the Dr. came to enquire of the water- 

 men at Basle what small craft they had on the Rhine, and 

 whether any house-boat, they said there was nothing but some 

 very small flat-bottomed wherries, but that they could tack 

 two of these together. On two such wallnut shells tyed to- 

 gether embarked the Dr. and lady, the nurse and child, and 

 the French valet, without oar or sail, or any awning that could 

 be kept up, and thus ran at the rate of near 80 miles a day 

 to Dusseldorf, amidst the damps and fogs of Novem 1 ", on the 

 expanded face of the Rhine, which was very full and very 

 rapid ! ! Here they turned off for Brussels, not being aware of 

 what was to befall them, but soon found themselves in a city 

 that expected every day to be cannonaded with hot balls. Here 

 they stayed till they saw the streets barricaded and intersected 

 with deep intrenchments, and at last escaped to Lisle, which 

 was not without its difficulties and embarrassments. The Dr. 

 and lady went twice by water down the Rhosne from Lyons ; 

 the scenery on its banks is grand and beautiful. I have just 

 received a letter from the Rev. James Anderson, LL.D., F.R.S., 

 F.A.S., of the Academy of Arts &c. of Dijon, &c* He directs 

 from Edinburg, and, having seen my book, desires my assist- 

 ance towards his ' Bee,' a weekly work which he proposes to 

 send forth as soon as he can settle a correspondence to his 

 mind. His prospectus to his work is curious, and promises 

 information. 



Nep. John White of Sarum has got him an house and two 

 pupils. Nothing but want of health will hinder that young 



* [James Anderson was an influential agricultural writer, and for some 

 time cultivated a large tract of barren land in Aberdeenshire for the pur- 

 pose of carrying on bis agricultural experiments and improvements. He 

 returned to the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, where he had originally 

 resided, and afterwards conducted two periodical publications, ' Recrea- 

 tions in Agriculture ' and the ' Bee.' I do not find that Gilbert White 

 ever practically responded to the request mentioned. In 1780 the Uni- 

 versity of Aberdeen conferred on him the degree of LL.D. ; the title of 

 Rev. is, I believe, unauthorized. He died in 1808.— T. B.] 



