The Natural History of Selborne, Vol. 1 | Page 5

against banks, a
valuable species of fencing much in use in this village, and for mending
of roads. This rag is rugged and stubborn, and will not hew to a smooth
face, but is very durable; yet, as these strata are shallow and lie deep,
large quantities cannot be procured but at considerable expense.
Among the blue rags turn up some blocks tinged with a stain of yellow
or rust colour, which seem to be nearly as lasting as the blue; and every
now and then balls of a friable substance, like rust of iron, called rust
balls.
In Wolmer Forest I see but one sort of stone, called by the workmen
sand, or forest-stone. This is generally of the colour of rusty iron, and
might probably be worked as iron ore, is very hard and heavy, and of a
firm, compact texture, and composed of a small roundish crystalline
grit, cemented together by a brown, terrene, ferruginous matter; will not
cut without difficulty, nor easily strike fire with steel. Being often
found in broad flat pieces, it makes good pavement for paths about
houses, never becoming slippery in frost or rain, is excellent for dry
walls, and is sometimes used in buildings. In many parts of that waste it
lies scattered on the surface of the ground, but is dug on Weaver's
Down, a vast hill on the eastern verge of that forest, where the pits are
shallow and the stratum thin. This stone is imperishable.
From a notion of rendering their work the more elegant, and giving it a
finish, masons chip this stone into small fragments about the size of the
head of a large nail, and then stick the pieces into the wet mortar along
the joints of their freestone walls. This embellishment carries an odd
appearance, and has occasioned strangers sometimes to ask us
pleasantly, "whether we fastened our walls together with tenpenny

nails."

LETTER V.
Among the singularities of this place the two rocky, hollow lanes, the
one to Alton, and the other to the forest, deserve our attention. These
roads, running through the malm lands, are, by the traffic of ages, and
the fretting of water, worn down through the first stratum of our
freestone, and partly through the second; so that they look more like
water-courses than roads; and are bedded with naked rag for furlongs
together. In many places they are reduced sixteen or eighteen feet
beneath the level of the fields; and after floods, and in frosts, exhibit
very grotesque and wild appearances, from the tangled roots that are
twisted among the strata, and from the torrents rushing down their
broken sides; and especially when those cascades are frozen into icicles,
hanging in all the fanciful shapes of frost-work. These rugged, gloomy
scenes affright the ladies when they peep down into them from the
paths above, and make timid horsemen shudder while they ride along
them; but delight the naturalist with their various botany, and
particularly with their curious filices with which they abound.
The manor of Selborne, was it strictly looked after, with all 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 landrails 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 district. As my experience of
measuring the water is but of short date, I am not qualified to give the
mean quantity. I only know that
Inch. Hund. From May 1, 1779, to 28 37! the end of the year, there fell
Jan. 1, 1780, to 27 32 Jan. 1, 1781 Jan. 1, 1781, to 30 71 Jan. 1, 1782
Jan. 1, 1782, to 50 26! Jan. 1, 1783 Jan. 1, 1783, to 33 71 Jan. 1, 1784
Jan. 1, 1784, to 33 80 Jan. 1, 1785 Jan. 1, 1785, to 31 55 Jan. 1, 1786
Jan. 1, 1786, to 39 57 Jan. 1, 1787
The village of Selborne, and large hamlet of Oakhanger, with the single
farms, and many scattered houses along the verge of the forest, contain
upwards of six