wide, the house being situated towards the northern and higher end of
the oval. The river crossed it, entering on the west and leaving on the
eastern side. The enclosure was for the greater part meadow and pasture,
for here the cattle were kept, which supplied the house with milk,
cheese, and butter, while others intended for slaughter were driven in
here for the last months of fattening.

The horses in actual use for riding, or for the waggons, were also
turned out here temporarily. There were two pens and rickyards within
it, one beside the river, one farther down. The South Road ran almost
down the centre, passing both rickyards, and leaving the stockade at the
southern end by a gate, called the barrier. At the northern extremity of
the oval the palisade passed within three hundred yards of the house,
and there was another barrier, to which the road led from the Maple
Gate, which has been mentioned. From thence it went across the hills to
the town of Ponze. Thus, anyone approaching the Old House had first to
pass the barrier and get inside the palisade.

At each barrier there was a cottage and a guard-room, though, as a
matter of fact, the watch was kept in peaceful times even more
carelessly than at the inner gates of the wall about the House itself.
Much the same plan, with local variations, was pursued on the other
estates of the province, though the stockade at the Old House was
remarkable for the care and skill with which it had been constructed.
Part of the duty of the watchman on the roof was to keep an eye on the
barriers, which he could see from his elevated position.

In case of an incursion of gipsies, or any danger, the guard at the
barrier was supposed to at once close the gate, blow a horn, and exhibit
a flag. Upon hearing the horn or observing the flag, the warder on the