\ 40 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE T. Courtenay, Esq. 7104. Do you remember what kind of house it is ?— It is a poor thatched cabin ; — I did not take very particular notice of it; I did not go up to it. 27 March 1838. J105. How far from it?— I was quite close enough to see the condition of the cabin; 1 was outside. 7106. What distance from it ?— I was perhaps the distance ot a held, or two fields. . . . - 10-. A field may be 500 acres, or it may be one t— Not the sort ot field in that neighbourhood ; I was quite close enough to it to see it; I was about the distance of this room and- a- half. 7108. Within about 35 feet?— I was quite close to it. 7109. Mr. French.]" llow many couples were there in the house?— I do not know. 7110. Were there any offices to it?— Yes, there was a small office. 7111. You stated that the land was let in 1825, mountain land, at " J s. and 8 s. an acre, and that you would now be content if you were to get 2 s. an acre in addition, if the lease was out; what kind of tenants were they ?— They are not the very best tenants. 7112. Is not mountain land generally let low, for the purpose of encouraging the tenants to get it up, to make it into land for the landlord ?— It is very often the case. 7113. Does not it make a very great difference in the value of land when it is broken up, compared with what it was before, when it was heath and mountain ? — With heathy mountain it would. 7114. And boggy land the same ?— And boggy land the same. 7115. Do you mean to say that 2 s. an acre would be the difference in the value of land, after having been broken up ?— If it had been originally heathy mountain, it would be nothing as an increase ; but it was not heathy mountain ; we call it mountain}- land, but it is not mountain ; it is not what I would in another county call mountain land; the phrase mountainy land is peculiar to Longford. 7116. Is it a light gravelly soil ?— It is a very light soil. 7117. Mr. 0* Connell.] Is there any kind of gravel under it?— There is a sort of gravel, very light, under it; the under surface is of a gravelly brick colour, and the upper surface of it is a wretched soil. 7118. Not blueish?— No. 7119. Confining yourself to your own knowledge, will you state whether you can name anybody else of the 300, whom you know of your own knowledge not to have a qualification ?— So far as having ridden the road, and had farms pointed out to me that were to be spoken to here, and having looked at them, to satisfy my own mind that the evidence I was taking down was correct; I have seen a good many farms, but I cannot exactly go into detail about them, and give the names of the tenants at the present moment. 7120. Can you state one tenant whose farm you yourself have so examined, and are you able to give the Committee distinct evidence that, in your judgment, that man is not qualified ?— At this moment I cannot, but if I had thought that I should be examined as to my own judgment of the value of the holdings, 1 might have been better prepared. 7121. Mr. Lefroy'] You have been examined hitherto as to cases which Com- mittees of this House had decided upon, after an examination taken before them upon oath r— Yes, from the information of Mr. Sherrard, who was prepared to swear upon oath at the last Committee; for, as I have stated, he came over here, and attended for the purpose, and he was not examined ; but I have a copy from his book. I had taken copies from his books for the information of counsel, to examine him by. 7122. Mr. Gaskell.] What would be the value of such a cabin as Gilleesy occupies, irrespective of the land ?— It would be worth very little. 7123. About what would be the number of rooms ?— I did not go inside, but I should say, from the appearance of it, compared with those that I have been in, there might be a kitchen, and a room off the kitchen perhaps, and perhaps there might be another iittle room at the other side of the fireplace; that is the general style of thing that it is. 7124. Are there any windows in cabins of that size ?— Very rarely ; there is something stuffed in the hole where the window ought to be, to keep the weather out; but in a thatched cabin of that sort thev never put up windows. 7125. Mr.