OF SELBORNE. 125 



LETTER XXVI. 



TO THE SAME. 



DEAR SIR; Selborne, Dec. 8, 1769. 



I WAS much gratified by your communi- 

 cative letter on your return from Scotland, 

 where you spent, I find, some considerable 

 time, and gave yourself good room to exa- 

 mine the natural curiosities of that exten- 

 sive kingdom, both those of the islands, as 

 well as those of the highlands. The usual 

 bane of such expeditions is hurry ! because 

 men seldom allot themselves half the time 

 ' they should do ; but, fixing on a day for 

 their return, post from place to place, ra- 

 ther as if they were on a journey that re- 

 quired dispatch, than as philosophers in- 

 vestigating the works of nature. You must 

 have made, no doubt, many discoveries, and 

 laid up a good fund of materials for a future 

 edition of the British Zoology and will 



