SQUASHFIELD. 135 



we arrived at a place called " Squashfield,'' and 

 never was a more appropriate name bestowed 

 upon a locality ; for although the vegetation, 

 springing up from the swamps, gave a fresh, 

 fertile, and even beautiful appearance to the 

 place, yet the moist, chilly, and raw atmosphere, 

 could excite no other ideas than those connected 

 with rheumatisms, catarrhs, and analogous dis- 

 eases, to which cold and damp will subject the 

 human frame. From the lateness of the hour 

 we took up our night's lodging in the hut at this 

 station, where every thing was done to make us 

 as comfortable as possible. Squashfield was, for 

 the present, rented by Mr. Imlay, as a cattle 

 station. 



This place is an extensive range of swampy 

 flats, of fertile appearance, which was the cause 

 of its being first selected as a sheep station, and 

 its bright features, when the young grass is 

 springing up, charmed many into severe losses ; 

 for, not taking into calculation the quality of the 

 soil, or the adaptation of the place for a sheep-run, 

 numerous flocks were placed upon it, and the 

 result was, before any long period had elapsed, 

 the loss of the whole from rot ; and yet, notwith- 

 standing these facts more sheep were subse- 

 quently placed on the same spot, and, as might 

 have been expected, with similar results, from the 



