LETTER LXV. 

 To THE Honourable Daines Barrington. 



On September the 21st, 1741, being then on a 

 visit, and intent on field-diversions, I rose before day- 

 break : when I came into the inclosures, I found the 

 stubbles and clover-grounds matted all over with a 

 thick coat of cobweb, in the meshes of which a copi- 

 ous and heavy dew hung so plentifully that the whole 

 face of the country seemed, as it were, covered with 

 two or three setting-nets drawn one over another. 

 When the dogs attempted to hunt, their eyes were 

 so blinded and hoodwinked that they could not pro- 

 ceed, but were obliged to lie down and scrape the 

 incumbrances from their faces with their fore-feet, 

 so that, finding my sport interrupted, I returned 

 home, musing in my mind on the oddness of the 

 occurrence. 



As the morning advanced the sun became bright 

 and warm, and the day turned out one of those most 

 lovely ones w^hich no season but the autumn pro- 

 duces, cloudless, calm, serene, and worthy of the 

 South of France itself. 



About nine an appearance very unusual began to 

 demand our attention, a shower of cobwebs falling 

 from very elevated regions, and continuing, without 

 any interruption, till the close of the day. These 

 webs were not single filmy threads, floating in the 



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