THE FATNESS OF THE EARTH. 209 



Buried to the eyes in dii6ty papers and musty 

 tomes, a week passed me by very pleasantly ; but at 

 last, yielding to the force of Thomas Ned's sugges- 

 tions, that our interests at the Hilltop demanded our 

 return, I reluctantly started. 



The manager would have loaded us down with 

 gifts, but we accepted no more than a few necessities, 

 and one morning at dawn were at the edge of the 

 forest belt again, headed for Hilltop. The resident 

 negroes on the estate were very curious, and some of 

 them may have followed us to ascertain our retreat ; 

 but if they did we were not cognizant of it at the 

 time, and the manager prevented them from actual 

 intrusion. 



He kindly settled my fears as to the tenure I 

 might have acquired to the land, by assuring me that 

 it was all crown land, in that section, and that, so 

 long as I committed no actual depredations, no one 

 could dispossess me. The wild lands of all the 

 islands belonged to the Government, and are kno^vn 

 as crown property, being open to acquisition and set- 

 tlement on easy terms. As an American, and an 

 alien, of course I could not acquire a title without 

 long residence or purchase ; but, if I chose to assign 

 whatever rights I might have acquired to Thomas 

 Ned, that individual could retain the property under 

 the squatter privileges. 



The manager, who respected the old man and was 

 glad to find that he had a friend interested in his wel- 

 fare, offered to procure the proper papers if I would 

 assume the small expense incurred, by which the land 



