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.
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