Now we have many such little round ponds in this district; and one
in particular on our sheep-down, three hundred feet above my
house; which though never above three feet deep in the middle,
and not more than thirty feet in diameter, and containing perhaps
not more than two or three hundred hogsheads of water, yet never
is known to fail, though it affords drink for three hundred or four
hundred sheep, and for at least twenty head of large cattle beside.
This pond, it is true, is over-hung with two moderate beeches, that,
doubtless, at times afford it much supply: but then we have others
as small, that, without the aid of trees, and in spite of evaporation
from sun and wind, and perpetual consumption by cattle, yet
constantly maintain a moderate share of water, without
overflowing in the wettest seasons, as they would do if supplied by
springs. By my journal of May 1775, it appears that 'the small and
even considerable ponds in the vales are now dried up, while the
small ponds on the very tops of hills are but little affected.
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