WEST DEVONSHIRE. 71 



which we now find the Diftridl, may have 

 arifcn out of this circumftance. But men 

 of fortune appear to have abandoned, long 

 ago, this original intention, if fuch it were ; 

 and to have taken for- granted, that their 

 lands were in a ftate of perfe<ft manage- 

 ment. 



The SELLING OF FARMS FOR THREE 



LIVES, nominated by the refpe(!^ive pur- 

 ehafers,.as it was the antient, and once per- 

 haps the univerfal, practice of the Diftridt, 

 comes next under confideration. 



At prefent, one half, or two thirds of the 

 lands of the Diftridt, probably, are under 

 this fpecies of tenure, or tenancy, or hold : 

 the remainder being occupied by proprie* 

 tors, whether men of fortune or yeomanry ; 

 and by tenants, for a term certain, or from 

 year to year. 



The difpofal of farms for three lives is 

 generally by what are provincially termed 



SURVEYS ; a fpCcieS of AUCTION ; at 



which candidates bid for the priority of 

 refufal, rather than for the thing itfelf^ a 

 fpecies of fale common to every fpecies of 

 property. If the highefl bidder does not 

 F 4 reach 



