H.—2l.

A. MCDONALD.]

87

might clear Meikle if I liked :he had nothing to do with either." He told me there were skins found in the barn, and that he could clear Meikle if he liked. 234. Did he tell you how they were branded ?—No, but that they were the company's skins. 235. And that he could clear him if he liked ?—lf he was willing to do it. 236. And after he told you all that, you never mentioned it to Meikle?—No, never. 237. Mr. Justice Edwards.] Did you know Lambert well ?—Yes, I met him a good few times. 238. How many times ?—I could not tell. 239. The reason I ask you is that when you were examined a short time after Meikle's trial you said you would not swear you had seen him more than twice ?—I had seen him more than twice. 240. That is very funny, you do not remember that ?—I had seen him more than twice. 241. How did you not know that at the time ?—I must have made a mistake. 242. Or told a lie, or you are telling a lie now—cne of the several hypotheses to account for it. You must have known whether you knew him or not ?—I must have known him. 243. Will you swear now that you knew you had seen him more than twice ?—Yes, I had seen him at the threshing first. 244. Will you swear you had seen him more than twice ?—Oh, yes, I had. 245. Then why did you tell the Supreme Court that you would not swear you had seen him more than twice ?—lf I swore that I made a mistake. 246. How often had you seen him—a great many times ?—Not a great many times, maybe five or six. 247. You knew him well to talk to ?—Yes. 248. You were more than a-stranger to him ?—I suppose I would be. 249. Then why did you swear you were "no more than a stranger to him " ? Why did you swear at Meikle's trial, when all was fresh in your memory, that you had not seen him more than twice, and were "no more than a stranger to him " ?—I had seen him more than twice, I know. 250. Why did you swear that, sir, when it was fresh in your memory ?—I made a mistake. 251. Or you are swearing falsely now. You could not make a mistake. Some things you can mistake; that, you could not mistake. You could not mistake then whether you had seen this man many a time or not. You could not mistake whether he was a mere stranger to you. Stand down ! James Mabin examined. 252. Mr. Atkinson.] Your name is James Mabin ? —James Mabin. 253. And you are a squatter residing at Sunnyside, near Wyndham ? You own a farm or run ?— Partly. 254. Sheep-farm ? —Yes. 255. How many acres ?—About 1,000, more or less. 256. Have you given evidence in any of these proceedings before ?—No. 257. How long have you been used to farming ?—About fifty years. 258. Do you know Islay Station ?—Yes. 259. Did you ever occupy any part of what was then the Islay property ? —Yes. 260. Which part was that ? —I leased the pre-emptive right. 261. From whom ?—A man called Sutherland. 262. About what time ?— In 1888, I think. lam not quite sure of the date. 263. What season of 1888 «— Either in May or June. 264. That was about six months after Meikle had been sent to gaol ?—Yes, something like that. 265. Was Meikle's stock still on the property when you went there ?—Yes ; they were on the property when I leased the pre-emptive right—for just a week or two. 266. And then ?—They were taken to Gore and sold. 267. Had the company any stock on their land ? I suppose they parted with the pre-emptive right to Sutherland ?—Yes ; but their stock were there still, trespassing. 268. Trespassing ?—Yes ;on what belonged to me in reality. Sutherland, when he leased the reserve, said there were so many stacks of straw 269. First of all, with regard to Meikle's property : had you occasion to go there ever ? —Well, I have been there on several occasions. 270. Did you form any idea as to the feed ?—Well, I had stock on it immediately afterwards, and I thought it was good enough for my stock. 271. What was growing there at this time when you took over the lease ?—Nothing but grass and a few turnips. The harvest was over, and there was nothing but the straw there. 272. You could say what had been growing on parts of it ? —There had been a good deal of crop that was threshed and gone. 273. What crop was that ?—Oat-crop. 274. And there had been some turnips. What about the grass ? —There was a portion in English grass. 275. About how much, roughly ?—I should think perhaps 200 or 300 acres of Englrsh grass. 276. What was the quality of Meikle's land generally ?—Fair good quality—as good as any in the district; in fact, much better than any around. 277. Could you form an opinion as to how he farmed ?—I think him a fairly good farmer ; he seemed to do his work fairly well.---278. Could you say what had been the cultivation of the pre-emptive right ? When you found it, how was it off for English grass '—There was no English grass on it at all. 279. Had there been any on it for the previous year or so ?—The bulk of what was ploughed was in stubble, and some had been in turnips. [A map of the farm was handed to the witness.]