82 NATURAL HISTORY 



^^ as they have been detected, and rendered liable to the lash 

 ' of the law. Neither fines nor imprisonments ca^ deter 

 them : so impossible is it to extinguish the spirit of sporting, 

 which seems to be inherent in human nature. 



General Howe turned out some German wild boars and 

 sows in his forests, to the great terror of the neighbour- 

 hood ; and, at one time, a wild bull or buffalo : but the 

 country rose upon them and destroyed them. 1 



A very large fall of timber, consisting of about 1,000 

 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 Binstead 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 sacks of wood. Forty-five of these people his lord- 

 ship has served with actions. 2 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 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. 3 



1 Charles the First also turned out in the New Forest German boars 

 and sows, which bred and increased. An engraving of one will be found 

 in Gilpin's "Forest Scenery," vol. ii. p. 118. ED. 



2 Mr. Bennett ascertained that the defendants in these actions, though 

 they made a show of resistance, suffered judgment to go by default. The 

 question of right had, in fact, been tried in 1741, and determined against 

 the claimants. Yet notwithstanding this, so soon after as 1788, on the 

 occasion of another fall of timber in The Holt, the people of Frinsham 

 again assembled and carried off openly upwards of 6,000 faggots. So 

 difficult is it to convince where interest opposes. ED. 



3 The formation of the Basingstoke Canal has again reduced the dis- 

 tance of The Holt from water-carriage ; and it is now accessible, either 

 at Odiham or at Bagman's Castle, within about seven miles. ED. 



