i ç 4 n a t u r a l h i s t o r y
gate, or ftile, till fhe returns to the cows, who, with fierce lowing»
and menacing horns, drive the affailants quite out of the pafturc.
Even great difparity of kind and fize does not always prevent
focial advances and mutual fellowfhip. For a very intelligent
and obfervant perfon has affured me that, in the former part o f
his life, keeping but one horfe, he happened alfo on a time to
have but one folitary hen. Thefe two incongruous animals fpent
much of their time together in a lonely orchard, where they faw
no creature but each other. By degrees an apparent regard
began to take place between thefe two fequeftered individuals.
The fowl would approach the quadruped with notes of complacency,
rubbing herfelf gently againft his legs : while the horfe
would look down with fatisfaftion, and move with.jjie greateft
eaution and cireumfpeftion, left he Ihould trample on his dimu-
nitive companion. Thus, by mutual good offices, each feemed
to confole the vacant hours of the other: fo that Milton, when
he puts the following fentiment in the mouth of Adam, feems to
be fomewhat miftaken :
“ Much lets can bird with beajl, or fith with fowl,
So well converfe, nor with the ox the ape. I
I am,. &c..
tD F S E L B O R N E .
L E T T E R XXV.
TO TH E S AM E .
DEAR SIR, S e l b o r n e , 061. 2 , 1 7 7 5 .
W E have two gangs or hordes of gypfies which infeft the fouth
and weft of England, and come round in their circuit two or three
times in the year. One of thefe tribes calls itfelf by the noble name
of Stanley, o f which I have nothing particular to fay, but the other
is -diftinguilhed by an appellative fomewhat remarkable— As far as
their harlh gibberilh can be underftood, they feem to fay that the
name of their clan is Curkople : now the termination of this word is
apparently Grecian : and as Mezeray and the graved hiftorians all
agree that thefe vagrants did. certainly migrate from Egypt and the
Eaft, two or three centuries ago, and fo fpread by degrees over
Europe, may not this family-name, a little corrupted, be the very
name they brought with them from fhe Levant? It would be
matter of fome curiolity, could one meet with an intelligent perfon
among them, to inquire whether, in their jargon, they ftill retain
any Greek words : the Greek radicals will appear in hand, foot,
head, water, earth, &c. It is poffible that amidft their cant and
corrupted dialed: many mutilated remains of their native language
might ftill be difcovered.
With regard to thofe peculiar people, the gypfies, one thing
is very remarkable, and efpecially as they camé from warmer
climates j and -that is, that while other beggars lodge in barns,
C c 2 ftables,