slation. Thus a house could be broken into at night, when
a person suspected as an absconder was expected to be found there:
whoever engaged a convict, though in ignorance of his civil condition,
incurred the penalties of "harboring." Publicans were liable to fines
for supplying such persons, even with common refreshment. Any man might
arrest another, whom he chose to fancy a convict at large. These
deviations from the practices of society in its regular state, were
occasionally vexatious, but not commonly. The settlers being acquainted
with each other, and the servants usually known to the constables,
prevented those practical evils, otherwise inevitable.

Few colonial enactments have occasioned more vexation than the
impounding laws. The interests of the grazier and agriculturalist were
at variance. When the country was parcelled out for cultivation, the
losses and annoyances of the settlers were severe. Their land unfenced,
was often suddenly visited by a herd of several hundreds: their crops
were trodden down, and devoured in a few hours. The invaders when
alarmed were soon beyond reach. Nor was this the sole mischief: tame
bullocks, seduced by the interlopers, often joined their flight; many
days were spent before they were recovered; often they were finally
lost. The unfortunate farmer, in the most important season, was
compelled to leave his lonely home, and attended by reluctant laborers
travel over many a hill and dale in search of the fugitives, with
sadness of heart.

At the accession of Arthur, the country about the Clyde and Shannon was
stocked with numerous herds, and from their bulk, the lands on which
they fed were then called the Plains of Bashan. The herdsmen acquired
great skill in tracking and driving the cattle. Their stations were in
advance of the located districts, and opened many fine patches of
country. Their horsemanship was celebrated: they gallopped amidst the
trees--now stooping, now leaning to the right or to the left; avoiding
obstruction and escaping collision with wonderful agility. They lived a
half savage life; were the reckless oppressors of the natives; often the
accomplices of the bushrangers, and accused of many crimes. To brand the
cattle, they were driven within an enclosure seven feet high, and when
exhausted by hunger, one man armed with a pole threw a loop round the
horns, another entangled the legs, and the beast was branded with a
heated iron; then turned into the woods, o