as soon as occasion offered, I took a house and paddock within easy distance of all the three corners, so that when the Government allowance had reduced my horse to a skeleton, I might give him a spell on grass, and travel to the courts on foot.  The house was on a gentle rise, overlooking a rich river flat.  It had been built by a retainer of Lord Glengarry, who had declined to follow any further the fortunes of his chief when he had closed his dairying operations at Greenmount.  A tragedy had been enacted in it some years before, and a ghost had often since been seen flitting about the house and grounds on moonlight nights.  This gave an aristocratic distinction to the property, which was very pleasing, as it is well known that ghosts never haunted any mansions or castles except such as have belonged to ancient families of noble race.  I bought the estate on very reasonable terms, no special charge being made for the ghost.

The paddock had been without a tenant for some time, but I found it was not unoccupied.  A friendly neighbour had introduced his flock of sheep into it, and he was fattening them cheaply.  I said, “Tityre, tu patulae recubans sub tegmine fayi, be good enough to round up your sheep and travel.”  Tityrus said that would be all right; he would take them away as soon as they were ready for the butcher.  It would be no inconvenience to me, as my horse would not be able to eat all the grass.  The idea of paying anything did not occur to him; he was doing me a favour.  He was one of the simple natives.  As I did not like to take favours from an entire stranger, the sheep and the shepherd sought other pastures beyond the winding Tarra.

The dense tea-tree which bordered the banks of the river was the home of wild hogs, which spent the nights in rooting up the soil and destroying the grass.  I therefore armed myself with a gun charged with buckshot, and went to meet the animals by moonlight.  I lay in ambush among the tussocks.  One shot was enough for each hog; after receiving it he retired hastily into the tea-tree and never came out again.

After I had cleared my land from sheep and pigs, the grass began to grow in abundance; and passing travellers, looking pensively over the fence, were full of pity for me because I had not stock enough to eat the grass.  One man had a team of bullocks which he was willing to put in; another had six calves ready to be weaned; and a third friend had a horse which he could spare for a spell.  All these were willing to put in their stock, and they would not charge me anything.  They were three more of the simple natives.