The Natural History of Selborne

No h. martins, nor swallows in the village, nor sand-martins about the forest.  Ld Stawel was fishing Wolmer-pond with a long net drawn by ten men.

Bought a bay-Welch Galloway mare. Out of the horses that were offered to me to try, there were ten mares to one gelding.

Cleaned my well by drawing out about 100 buckets of muddy water: there was little rubbish at the bottom.  There were two good springs, one at the bottom, & one about three feet above.  Nothing had been done to this well for about 40 years.  The man at the bottom in the cleaning brought up several marbles & taws that we had thrown down when children.

Men put-up their hogs to fat.  House-flies muscae domesticae, now croud about the fire-place, run on hearths, & sport in the chimney-corner.

My well has now only three feet in water: it has never been so low, since my father sunk it, more than forty years ago.

Dug up potatoes, & carrots.

Gathered-in Cadilliac-pears, dearlings, & royal russets.

Dug up potatoes: earthed up celeri.  Gathered knobbed russetings, a large crop.  Our building-sand from Wolmer-forest seems pure from dirt: but examined thro’ a microscope proves not to be sharp, & angular, but smooth as from collision.  It is of a yellow colour.  “The amazing number of swallows that at this time are flying in London, is a very uncommon appearance.  They seem greatly affected by the severe cold weather we have experienced for some days past, since the wind has been northerly; they fly in at windows, & are so tamed or numbed, that boys beat them down, as they fly in the streets.”  The Gazetteer

Gathered swan’s egg pears, a large crop.  Surprising Auroras, very red in the W!!!  The young swarms of bees this summer are light; the old stocks are heavy.

The wind blows down apples and pears.  Vivid aurora.