Lerwick, January 29, 1872, ARTHUR JOHNSON, examined.
14,884. Are you a tenant and fisherman at Colafirth, near Ollaberry?-I am.
14,885. Do you go to the ling fishing every year?- [Page 375] Yes. I was one year a hired boy, and I have been thirty-three years a sharesman.
14,886. On whose land are you a tenant?-On that of Mr. Gideon Anderson, Ollaberry. It is let on tack to Mr. John Anderson, his brother, and to Mr. John Robertson, Lerwick.
14,887. How do you pay your rent?-We pay our rent at Hillswick to Mr. John Anderson.
14,888. Is that done when you settle for your fish?-We have to go a day or two after we have settled for our fishing, and pay our rent to Mr. Anderson. We get a line from the man we have settled with and go to Mr. Anderson with it, and then he writes us out a receipt for the rent. We do not get the money to give to him at all.
14,889. Do you settle with Mr. William Irvine at Ollaberry?-Yes.
14,890. Are you bound to sell your fish to him?-He is only the factor for Messrs. Anderson & Co. We are bound to sell our fish to them.
14,891. Are you not at liberty to sell your fish to any other person you please?-Not in the summer time. We have not had liberty to do so for the last four years.
14,892. How do you know that?-Because Mr. John Anderson has told us so himself.