OF SELBORNE. 277 



noon, with the thermometer at 50, brought forth troops of 

 shell-snails ; and, at the same juncture, the tortoise heaved 

 up the mould and put out its head ; and the next morning 

 came forth, as it were raised from the dead ; and walked 

 about till four in the afternoon. This was a curious coin- 

 cidence ! a very amusing occurrence ! to see such a simi- 

 larity of feelings between the two (p*pfxot ! for so the 

 Greeks call both the shell- snail and the tortoise. 



Summer birds are, this cold and backward spring, un- 

 usually late : I have seen but one swallow yet. This con- 

 formity with the weather convinces me more and more that 

 they sleep in the winter. 1 



More particulars respecting the old family tortoise. 



THE SHELL OF GILBERT WHITE S TORTOISE. 



Because we call this creature an abject reptile, we are 

 too apt to undervalue his abilities, and depreciate his powers 

 of instinct. Yet he is, as Mr. Pope says of his lord, 



" Much too wise to walk into a well : " 



and has so much discernment as not to fall down a haha ; 

 but to stop and withdraw from the brink with the readiest 

 precaution. 



Though he loves warm weather, he avoids the hot sun ; 

 because his thick shell, when once heated, would, as the 

 poet says of solid armour " scald with safety." He 

 therefore spends the more sultry hours under the umbrella 



1 In the original 4to. this letter ends here, and the " particulars" 

 which follow are given by way of supplement at the end of tht Antiquities. 

 It seems more appropriate, however, to reprint them here. ED. 



