THE 
ANTIQUITIES OF SELBORNE. 
LETTEE I. 
It is reasonable to suppose that in remote ages this woody and 
mountainous district was inhabited only by bears and wolves. 
Whether the Britons ever thought it worthy their attention is 
not in our power to determine ; but we may safely conclude, 
from circumstances, that it was not unknown to the Eomans. 
Old people remember to have heard their fathers and grand- 
fathers say that, in dry summers and in windy weather, pieces 
of money were sometimes found round the verge of Wolmer 
Pond; and tradition had inspired the foresters with a notion 
that the bottom of that lake contained great stores of treasure. 
During the spring and summer of 1740 there was little rain ; 
and the following summer also, 1741, was so uncommonly dry, 
that many springs and ponds failed, and this lake in particular, 
whose bed became as dusty as the surrounding heaths and 
wastes. This favourable juncture induced some of the forest 
cottagers to begin a search, which was attended with such suc- 
cess that all the labourers in the neighbourhood flocked to the 
spot, and with spades and hoes turned up great part of that 
large area. Instead of pots of coins, as they expected, they 
found great heaps, the one lying on the other, as if shot out of 
a bag ; many of which were in good preservation. Silver and 
gold these inquirers expected to find ; but their discoveries con- 
sisted solely of many hundreds of Eoman copper coins and some 
