Hirer Basins. 
245 
county, wliicli it bounds till its junction witlx tlie Whitewater, 
for 20 miles). All these rise on the northern slope of the North 
Downs, and ultimately find their way into the Thames. There 
would also be seen on the eastern slope of the Alton Hills, 
about 2 miles south-east of Alton, the two sources of the Wey, 
watering the valleys of Selborne and Alton. The main river of 
the Wey reaches the same basin, by a most irregular course, in 
search of a convenient spot at which to pierce the North Down 
range, and which it at last finds round the Hog's Back at Guild- 
ford. I estimate tlie country thus drained into the London or 
northern basin, at 275 square miles. 
, The country drained to the south-eastward, into the basin of 
the Arun, by the Rother rising on the eastern slope of Nore Hill, 
I estimate at 45 square miles. 
The whole of the remainder of the county drains to the south- 
ward (and so is on the sunny side of the hill), the great bulk of 
it into the Southampton Water, chiefly by means of the Test or 
Anton * and its affluents, and the Itchen. 
The Test itself rises 5i miles north of Andover, near Upton, 
on the southern slope of the North Downs, and, running to the 
east and south, is joined below Hurstbourne Priors by a stream 
from Ash, and further down by another small stream (also running 
from the eastward, from Micheldever) at Newton Stacey. The 
Anton rises at Enliam Knights, is joined by a rivulet from 
Charlton, 2 miles north of i^ndover, and by another brook, 
before it joins the Test at Kitecombe Bridge, at the foot of Long- 
stock Hill. 
The two rivers, the Test and the Anton, sometimes divided 
into two or more channels, sometimes united, 
" Like friends once parted, 
Grown single-hearted, 
Ply their watery tasks " 
in a tolerably straight course southward, through one valley, 
draining the country on both sides into the head of the South- 
ampton Water at Redbridge, after a course of 35 miles. They 
receive slender contributions on either side from different brooks, 
from Broughton and the Wallops, from King's Sombourne, the 
Tytherleys, and Knap Hill. Below Romsey there are other 
waters, from East and West Wellow, joining near Nutshalling ; 
from Rufus' Stone and from Minstead, joining near Eling, on 
the western ; ,and from Milbrook on the eastern bank. The Test 
* Which name ought to be given to the united stream is hard to say. Camden 
contends for Anton ; and the names of the county, and of the town at the mouth, 
seem to favour his opinion. On the other hand, Leland speaks of the Test only, 
which has, moreover, an Anglo-Saxon derivation. Present usage is utterly unde- 
cided between the two. 
