ghlands.

Round the dwellings of the new settlers, which were built in the form of a
square, each square, three in all, having a communication, a rampart and
ditch were constructed. The making of these was mere pastime to these
hardy Scots, and they took great delight in the work, for not only would
it enable them to sleep in peace and safety, but the keeping of it in
thorough decorative repair, as house agents say, would always form a
pleasant occupation for spare time.

The mansion, as Moncrieff's beautiful house came to be called, was
similarly fortified, but as it stood high in its grounds the rampart did
not hide the building. Moreover, the latter was partially decorated inside
with flowers, and the external embankment always kept as green as an
English lawn in June.

The ditches were wide and deep, and were so arranged that in case of
invasion they could be filled with water from a natural lake high up on
the brae lands. For that matter they might have been filled at any time,
or kept filled, but Moncrieff had an idea--and probably he was right--that
too much stagnant, or even semi-stagnant water near a house rendered it
unhealthy.

As soon as we had bought our claims and marked them out, each settler's
distinct from the other, but ours--my brothers' and mine--all in one lot,
we commenced work in earnest. There was room and to spare for us all about
the Moncrieff mansion and farmyard, we--the M'Crimmans--being guests for a
time, and living indoors, the others roughing it as best they could in the
out-houses, some of which were turned into temporary huts.

Nothing could exceed the beauty of Moncrieff's _estancia_. It was miles
and miles in extent, and more like a lovely garden than anything else. The
fields were all square. Round each, in tasteful rows, waved noble trees,
the weird and ghostly poplar, whose topmost branches touched the clouds
apparently, the wide-spreading elm, the shapely chestnut, the dark,
mysterious cypress, the fairy-leaved acacia, the waving willow and sturdy
oak. These trees had been planted with great taste and judgment around the
fields, and between all stretched hedges of laurel, willow, and various
kinds of shrubs. The fields themselves were not without trees; in fact,
trees were dotted over most of them, notably chestnuts, and many species
of fruit trees.

But something else added to the extreme beauty of these fields, namely,
the irrigation canals--I prefer the word canals to dit