/ 
of thei, that which wey feever the game 
suns, thehunters are fure to find one or 
other.of thefe. rides pointing the fame 
courfe. On fome eminences neat cottages 
are ereéted, where the hunters may take 
fhelter or refrefhment. Turf is dug on 
this fore for fuel, asis the cafe on fome 
other commons I paffed in this day’s jour- 
ney. The furface of the country is, in 
many places, rather hilly, and particu- 
larly the uncultivated parts, where the 
foil is naturally fterile, and produces heath 
and furze. “Lhe foil of the uncultivated 
ground is partly fandy, and partly loamy, 
and in fome fmail traéts clay predomi- 
nates: the finall ftones, or pebbles, are 
flint. Before I entered Windfor park, 
T obferved, for the firft time fince I left 
Nottinghamfhire, a range of rocks pro- 
jeéting a little above the furface of a bar- 
sen common; the ftone is hard, and of a 
whitith colour, and, I fuppofe, not fit for 
the purpofes of building. From Wat- 
Ton I followed the courfe of the Thames 
for feveral miles, which was. extremely 
pieafant, and paffed feveral neat houfes 
and villages: among the latter, Brack- 
nell, in my opinion, took the lead. 
This is very much a corn country, how- 
‘ever I did not, ‘in general, obferve very 
weighty crows. The people were bufy 
mowing grafs, getting hay, and bringing 
home, their fuel from the neighbouring 
heaths ;. they flack the latter in the 
form of {mall houfes, as is the cuftom in 
(umberlandc, and other, northern coun- 
ties. In this-diftriGt, I did not, notice 
much woodland, except Windfor park ; 
buta number of trees grow on hedges, 
particularly elm. 
Faly 23, ‘I went from READING to 
-SpreaTLey; in Berks, 11 miles. The 
road leads pleafantly along the fide of the 
Phatnes; the’ banks are high, and the 
thaiky cliffs (trike the eye’ with-a fnow- 
tie appearance, but im fome- places they 
eye covered” with" wood! ‘The foil-is 
chalky, and not mich of it rerfarkable 
for fertility ; corn’ isthe principal de- 
pendancé of the farmer.-_ The juniper 
‘buth grows fpontanedbfly im the! lanes: 
‘dt is’often a criterion of poor foil. © Sheep 
ard. {mall The 2feat of Sir Francis 
‘Sykes ftands: on a rifinge gtound on the 
left. The furface- of this’ diftriét con- 
“Ging Teveral high grounds, and very ex- 
“eénfive' commons, ‘called Downs, which 
TtF 4 7 “er pre oa fi dy Ns FY 
“are covercd Oe ha fward, and fup- 
: port a finall breed 6 ‘%héep.'’ READING 
_is ‘a pretty large & Vpopulons town, and 
‘ athorbushfare tds’ Wales and. Ire- 
ood. Small manufatures@of. fail-cloth, 
fack-cloth, gauze, ribbons, and pins, are 
‘YP. Houfeman’s Tour contimied. 
[Jan, 
carried on here, but this ddes not feem 
to increafe either the riches or number of 
the inhabitants much ; it is chiefly built 
with brick and tile, and the honfes are 
good, but many of the ftreets too narrow. 
STREATLEY isa farming village on the 
fouth fide of the Thames, which, in the 
winter, often overflows its banks there, 
and does confiderable damage. 
July 24, went from STREATLEY t 
WALLINGFORD, Berks, 5 miks.—I 
continue to follow the courfe of the 
‘Thames towards its fource: the"road and 
country here extremely pleafant. Soil 
is loamy, and fertile in the production of 
corn, a great deal of common fields alfo 
appear, but the crops of wheat and bar- 
ley thereon rather light. EF have obferved, 
for feveral days paft, that almoft every 
hedge is covered with a fort of plant 
very much refembling the hop plant; it 
grows up amongft the thorns luxuriantly, 
and has a fort of long-bearded grey, or 
white flower : the country people call it 
honey, or the old man’s beard. WaAtL- 
LINGFORD. is a Very ancient town; 
buildings of brick and tile, but low, and 
bear the marks of antiquity: moft of 
the inhabitants are petty tradefmen. 
Farms in this neighbourhood are pretty 
large, one of which is rented for about 
Sool. a year; on that farm is an old barn, 
faid to be the largefi in England; it is 
ror yards in length, and 18 in width, 
and was the repofitory fer the abbot of 
Reading’s tythes, who refided here in 
fummer. : . 
July 26, I went from WALLINGFORD 
to OxFoRD, 12 miles. The foil a fine 
‘loamy clay, and in fome parts a gravelly, 
or fandy loam. Crops of wheat, barley, 
and oats, the heavieft I ever faw; the 
furface level, but fome rifiag grounds ap- 
pear at a diftance: fields are Jarge and 
beautiful where inclofed, bur feveral traéts 
of common-field continue to call aloud for 
inclofing. Sheep are hurdled on fallows, 
and fometimes fed with green clover 
thereon ; bells are hung about the necks 
of feveral fheep.in every flock ; the reafon 
athgned for.fo doing is, that if the flock 
fhould ftvay, they are eafily found by the 
tinkling of the bells: I have. alfo feen 
them tied to the nécks-of.cows, probably 
for the fame purpofe: bur why two or 
three bells fhould bé hung to each horfe 
jn a cart, or waggon, I amat a lels to 
conjecture. I did not obferve any flint 
ftones in this diftriét. Berkfhire 1s noted 
‘for producing much cern 5 it, however, 
contains great quanticics of common and 
downs, wholly uncultivated, and” feveral 
traéts of poor foil, It is pretty well 
5 ; watered, 
