786. Was any price fixed by them for that?-I offered 20s. for my liberty to fish for whom I liked, or to cure for myself, and I could not get it for the paying of the 20s.
787. Were you told what they would give it to you for?-No; they would not say.
788. Do you wish to fish for anybody else?-I should certainly wish to fish for anybody that I could get most from; but I should like especially to be the master of my own fish, to cure them for myself, and to sell them to the best advantage.
789. You mean you would like to catch and cure your own fish, and then sell them, do you?-Yes; that is what I would like.
790. Why do you, not do it?-Because we would be ejected from the place if we were not to deliver our fish to them.
791. What is your reason for supposing that?-Because we have been told so.
792. Was it on the occasion you have mentioned, eight years ago, that you were told so?-It was.
793. Have you been told since that you would be ejected if you did not deliver your fish to Messrs. Hay & Co.?-I have never since asked anything about it, so that I had no reason to be told so.
794. Has any person been ejected for selling fish to other merchants than Hay & Co., or for curing his own fish?-I think there have been such cases in Burra. I believe John Leask was ejected for not serving as a fisherman to Messrs. Hay & Co.
795. How long ago was that?-I think it would be about thirteen years since, or close thereby.