forests, to the great terror of the neighbourhood; and, at one time, a
wild bull or buffalo: but the country rose upon them and destroyed
them.

A very large fall of timber, consisting of about one thousand oaks,
has been cut this spring (viz., 1784) in the Holt forest; one-fifth of
which, it is said, belongs to the grantee, Lord Stawel. He lays claim
also to the lop and top: but the poor of the parishes of Binsted and
Frinsham, Bentley and Kingsley, assert that it belongs to them; and,
assembling in a riotous manner, have actually taken it all away.
One man, who keeps a team, has carried home, for his share, forty
stacks of wood. Forty-five of these people his lordship has served
with actions. These trees, which were very sound and in high
perfection, were winter-cut, viz., in February and March, before the
bark would run. In old times the Holt was estimated to be eighteen
miles, computed measure, from water-carriage, viz., from the town
of Chertsey, on the Thames; but now it is not half that distance,
since the Wey is made navigable up to the town of Godalming in
the county of Surrey.



Letter X
To Thomas Pennant, Esquire

August 4, 1767.

It has been my misfortune never to have had any neighbours whose
studies have led them towards the pursuit of natural knowledge; so
that, for want of a companion to quicken my industry and sharpen