The Natural History of Selborne

Tremendous thunder-storm in London.  The stream which rises in James Knight’s upper pond has failed all this summer, as it does all very dry summers; so that the channel is dry down to the middle of the short Lithe; from whence there is always water running ’till it joins the Well-head stream at little Dorton.  This spring, which is at the bottom of the Church-litten-closes, seems to rise out of the hill on which the Church is built.  Timothy begins to frequent the border under the fruit-wall for the sake of warmth.

Planted-out in a bed a great number of Seedling-polyanths: seed from Bramshot-place.

Some fly-catchers, that haunt about the church, take the flies off the sides of the towers much adroitness.  Swallows do the same in the decline of summer.

Muscae domesticae swarm in the kitchen.  When the sun breaks-out, the roofs, & grass-walks reek.  Men cut their field-beans.

Paid for four wasps-nests.  On this day the Duke of Kingstone India man, outward bound, Captain Nutt, was burnt at sea off the island of Ceylon.  Mr Charles Etty, one of the mates, was wonderfully saved, tho’ he could not swim an inch, by clinging to a yard-arm that had been flung over board; by which he was kept above water about an hour & 1/4, ’till he was taken up by a boat, & carryed, naked as he was, aboard the Vansittart India-man Captain Agnew, who treated him with great humanity, & landed him in a few days at Madras.  This ship, cargoe, & more than 70 lives were lost by the carelessness of a mate in drawing rum, who permitted the candle to catch the spirits; so that the whole vessel was in flames at once, without any chance of extinguishing them.  She burnt about four hours, & then blew up: so that nothing was saved except what cloaths some had on their backs.  She had soldiers aboard, & some passengers, & a few women, & children.  Potatoes very fine, tho’ the ground has scarce ever been moistened since they were planted.  They were also very good last year, tho’ the summer was mostly wet & cold.  Fern-owl glances, & darts about in my garden in pursuit of phalaenae, with inconceivable swiftness.

The Colchicum, or autumnal crocus blows.  On the evening of this day, at about a quarter after nine o’the clock, a luminous meteor of extraordinary bulk, & shape was seen traversing the sky from N.W. to S.E.  It was observed at Edinburg, & several other Ern. parts of this Island.  No accounts of it, that I have seen, have been published from any of the western counties.  It was also taken notice of at Ostend.  This meteor, I find since, was seen at Coventry, & Chester.  4 swifts at Guildford; 1 swift at Meroe; 1 swift at Dorking.

Farmer Knight of Norton finishes wheat-harvest.  Farmer Lassam of Priory Do. Farmer Hewet of Temple finishes Do.

Took this morning by bird-lime on the tips of hazel-twigs several hundred wasps that were devouring the goose-berries.  A little attention this way makes vast riddance, & havock among these plundering invaders.

Farmer Spencer of Grange finished wheat-harvest. Mr Pink of Faringdon finished Do.  Mr Yalden finished wheat-harvest.  Fermer Vridger of Black-more finished harvest of all sorts.

Flies come in a door, & swarm in the windows; especially that species called Conops calcitrans.  Nep. John White came by the coach from London.