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 in measuring the water is but of short date, I am not
qualified to give the mean quantity.*
(*A very intelligent gentleman assures me (and he speaks from
upwards of forty years' experience) that the mean rain of any plate
cannot be ascertained till a person has measured it for a very long
period. 'If I had only measured the rain,' says he, 'for the four first
years from 1740 to 1743, I should have said the mean rain at
Lyndon was 16 and a half inches for the year, if from 1740 to 1750,
18 and a half inches.
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