16,232. Are these allotment notes taken in her name?-Yes; but sometimes I have been so much indebted to the agent before I left, that I had to leave the allotment note with him until he was paid.
16,233. Have you done that lately?-Yes.
16,234. Had you been in his debt before you engaged with him?- No. I got into his debt at the time of engaging. I got a lot of things from him then.
16,235. Did you leave your allotment note in his hands as a security for the payment of these supplies?-Yes.
16,236. Was the note taken in the agent's name?-No; it was taken in my wife's name, and she was supplied by him if she required anything.
16,237. Who was the agent you engaged with last year?-Messrs. Laurenson & Co. I also engaged with them the year before. The year before that, I think I engaged with Mr. Joseph Leask.
16,238. In all these years did you run up a pretty large account at the agent's shop?-Yes; I always had an account with the agent.
16,239. Did you settle that account before you went up to the Custom House to be paid your wages?-No. Sometimes the agent was at the Custom House to receive payment of his account there, and sometimes I went down to his shop and paid him after I had been paid myself.
16,240. But was the account settled in the book, and the amount due by you to him ascertained before you went up to the Custom House?-Yes.
16,241. Was that done always?-No, not of late.