H.—37

14

but he would not tell him. Father asked him to leave the place. He went towards the stable. Father told him not to go there, as he might set fire to the place ; that there were plenty places on the other side of the road. Before father came down the man had been there about ten minutes. I locked the door because I saw the man fall over the fence. The man looked strange. In the middle of the night I heard the dogs barking, and I went to the front door. So did father and mother. Mary slept in the same room that night. She was awake when I left. Ido not think she was asleep. I was awake all night. When I went to the door I heard a man singing or crying. The reason I was awake all night was because I was frightened of the man. My sister Mary was alarmed ; but I do not know that any other member of the family was. I went to bed about 10. So did sister Mary. When they heard the dogs barking father said he wondered what it was. When the man went from the house he was walking lame. It was a wire fence he fell over. I saw him the next day between 1 and 2 o'clock lying on the road, about eight or nine chains from father's gate. He was lying on the north side of the road. Father, sisters, and young Davies were with them. They were in a dray. The man spoke first, and said, " Good day." Father asked if there was anything the matter with him, and he said he got his leg poisoned about three weeks back. He said he was going to the chemist's with it. I gave the man tea and scones. He drank the tea and was eating the scones when they passed on. They were about ten minutes there. The man looked well and healthy. He answered my father in a sensible enough manner. I looked back and saw him moving into the fence. When I saw him first he was lying near an old wheel-track. I saw a hollow there. It was near there I saw him. I saw no sign of trouble or pain on his face. In coming back about two hours afterwards I saw the man on the other side of the road. He was a little farther down. When I saw him moving he was on his hands and knees. Father may have spoken to him when coming back, but Ido not remember what he said—l was speaking to my sisters. I saw him next morning about a quarter to 9. I was driving father to Waihao Bail way-station. I was about a couple of yards from the man when I passed. He was lying down at McNaughton's corner, at the cross-roads. He was lying on the side of the .road, but not quite near the fence. He was looking at them. My mother drove my father back that evening. They had conversation after, and they heard of his death. Father said he wondered what had happened to him, and had he known he would have died he would have reported the matter to the police. My brother Michael gave the man food on Friday morning. He was sitting down when I first saw him. He used his hands to get upon his knees by putting them on the ground. There was no dray driven out of my father's place on Thursday or Friday night. They did not do anything to the windows or blinds when they saw the man coming on Thursday night. There are blinds to the windows. They were drawn down on Thursday after the man came. They are drawn down every night. To Mr. Raymond : I did not hear father use abusive language to the man whilst I was there, or strike him. He only had his trousers and shirt on when I passed the first time on Friday. His coat, hat, and boots were off. Later on, when we again passed, he had his clothes on and one boot. He did not use abusive language to father at the house. Michael McCarthy, son of Jeremiah McCarthy, sworn, said : I remember a man coming to my father's house on the 9th of January. He came from the direction of Mr. Kilworth's. I was at the stable with my brother Jeremiah when he came. There are three dogs, one loose and two tied up. He stoned the loose one. He was about half a chain away when he stoned it. Jeremiah and my father could see what I saw. There was no noise, but the dog was barking. He kept stoning the dog one or two minutes. The dog ran away towards the dog-house, which was on the other • side of the house from the stable. The man went to the front door, but I could not hear him. Father sent me down to see what he wanted, and when I asked him he swore at me, saying, " Ask my ." He kicked at the door, and I went and told my father. When father came down he was kicking the door. He was not saying anything. I never heard the man say anything. Father asked what he was doing that for, and the man said, " This is my own house." My father told him to go away out of the place, and he went towards the stable. No threats were ever used when the man was kicking at the door. I was a witness at the inquest. My father told him not to go to the stable, as he might set fire to the place. He then went towards the gate. I saw him between 8 and 9 o'clock next morning in the hollow not far from the gate. The man was sitting outside an oaten paddock. There was nobody with me. I was looking to see if the sheep were out on the road. I gave the man bread and tea. I went to the house and got it from my sister Johanna. I never heard my father say anything about the man before he was dead. Father spoke about him after his death, and said, " Poor man." He said that on Monday. He said more apparently about the man to my mother and sister, but I did not hear him. My father did not ask any questions about the man before the man's death on Friday or on Saturday or Sunday. Father asked me on Monday if I had given the man any tucker. No one knew from me but Johanna that I took food to the man. I went to bed about 9 or 10 o'clock the night the man came. I did not go to sleep that night, because of the man being about the place. Jeremiah slept with me. He went to sleep. I was afraid the man would come back again, and did not sleep. I heard the dogs barking on Thursday night, but did not hear any other noise. Ido not know what time the dogs barked. The kitchen was between his bedroom and father's. They could not hear noises readily in one room that were made in another. There was a room and a passage between his room and father's. There were blinds on the windows. They were pulled down every night. They were pulled down on Thursday, but Ido not know by whom. They could not see the stable from the porch. The man had all his clothes and boots on on the Friday morning. He was not making a noise. I took tea to the man in a bottle. I got it from him again when coming back. He had no other bottle. I did not see one. Anybody passing along the road could have seen the man. Jeremiah McCarthy, junior, sworn, said: I remember an old man coming to my father's house