To Thomas Pennant, Esquire

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 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