12 THE NATURAL HISTORY 



delight the naturalist with their various botany, and par- 

 ticularly with their curious filices with which they abound. 



The manor of Selborne, was it strictly looked after, with 

 aU its kindly aspects, and all its sloping coverts, would swarm 

 with game; even now hares, partridges, and pheasants 

 abound ; and in old days woodcocks were as plentiful. 

 There are few quails, because they more affect open fields 

 than enclosures ; after harvest some few land-rails are seen. 



The parish of Selborne, by taking in so much of the 

 forest, is a vast district. Those who tread the bounds are 

 employed part of three days in the business, and are of 

 opinion that the outline, in all its curves and indentings, 

 does not comprise less than thirty miles. 



The village stands in a sheltered spot, secured by The 

 Hanger from the strong westerly winds. The air is soft, 

 but rather moist from the effluvia of so many trees ; yet 

 perfectly healthy and free from agues. 



The quantity of rain that falls on it is very considerable, 

 as may be supposed in so woody and mountainous a dis- 

 trict. As my experience in measuring the water is but of 

 short date, I am not qualified to give the mean quantity.^ 

 I only know that 



From May I, 1779, to the end of the year there fell 



From Jan. i, 1780, to Jan. i, 1781 „ 



From Jan. i, 1781, to Jan. i, 1782 „ 



From Jan. i, 1782, to Jan. i, 1783 „ 



From Jan. I, 1783, to Jan. I, 1784 „ 



From Jan. I, 1784, to Jan. I, 1785 „ 



From Jan. i, 1785, to Jan. I, 1786 „ 



From Jan. i, 1786, to Jan. i, 1787 „ 



The village of Selborne, and large hamlet of Oakhanger, 

 with the single farms, and many scattered houses along the 



' A very intelligent gentleman assures me (and he speaks from upwards 

 of forty years' experience) that the mean rain of any place cannot be 

 ascertained till a person has measured it for a very long period. " If I 

 had only measured the rain,'' says he, " for the four first years, from 1 740 

 to 1743, I should have said the mean rain at Lyndon was 16J inch for 

 the year ; if from 1740 to 1750, i8| inches. The mean rain before 

 1763 was 20J; from 1763 and since, z^^; from 1770 to 1780, 26. If 

 only 1773, 1774 and 1775 had been measured, Lyndon mean rain would 

 have been called 32 inches." 



