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 esti- 

 mated to be eighteen 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 county of Surrey. 



LETTER X. 

 To Thomas Pennant, Esq. 



It has been my misfortune never to have had any 

 neighbour whose studies have led him towards the 

 pursuit of natural knowledge ; so that, for want of a 

 companion to quicken my industry and sharpen my 



32 



