EARLY HISTORY OF WHEAT-GROWING 15 



one of the Governors, Alexander McDonell, was nicknamed 

 the " grasshopper governor," as he proved as great a de- 

 stroyer within doors as the grasshoppers had done in the 

 fields outside. The Governor affected the style of an In- 

 dian viceroy but, when the puncheons of rum arrived from 

 England in the fall, did not hesitate to carouse with his 

 secretaries, assistant-secretaries, accountants, orderlies, 

 grooms, cooks, and butlers. The liquor account was kept 

 in a distinctly novel manner, grains of wheat being used 

 for the purpose. The heel of a bottle was filled with wheat 

 and set on a cask, the contrivance being called the hour- 

 glass. For every flagon drawn off, a grain of wheat was 

 taken out of the hour-glass and put aside until the carousal 

 was over. The grains were then counted, and the amount 

 of expenditure ascertained. " From time to time," says 

 Eoss, " the great man at the head of the table would dis- 

 play his moderation by calling out to the butler, ' Bob, how 

 stands the hour-glass ? ' ' High, your honor ! high ! ' was 

 the general reply; as much as to say they had drunk but 

 little yet. Like the Chinese at Lamtschu, or a party of 

 Indian chiefs smoking the pipe of peace, the challenges to 

 empty glasses went round and round so long as a man could 

 keep his seat ; and often the revel ended in a general melee 

 which led to the suspension of half-a-dozen officials and the 

 postponement of business, till another bouse had made 

 them all friends again. Unhappily, sober or drunk, the 

 business was as fraudulent as it was complicated." On 

 the arrival from England of Mr. Halkett, one of Lord Sel- 

 kirk's executors and a staunch friend of the colony, Gover- 

 nor McDonell's stewardship was brought to a close and the 

 celebrated hour-glass was used no more.^^ 



33 A. Ross, loc. cit., pp. 63-68. 



