Page:Life of Sir William Petty 1623 – 1687.djvu/152

 west fractions in Magunnity, with much of the mountaine called Sleavelogher, in the barony of Trughanackny, Magunnity, Clanmorris, and Iraghticannor, wee were at a loss; for the like quantity that wee were about to returne unprofitable in the more habitable places, was even as good as many whole denominations consisted of in the said places, except some small spotts of arable that was in some of them, and yet goeing by the names of plowlands and parishes, &c, some men's whole estates consisting of such like; some of the said denominations wholly without arable. Soe that wee did not know what to doe, but was very inquisitive of those that had been inhabitants on the said places, and of our bounders; soe that we did clearly see that something had been made of those places, and something might be made of them againe, if stocked with cattle; and we did not judge it safe to take uppon us to cast away towne lands, parishes, nay, even allmost barronyes, wholly for unprofitable. Wee could, although we did at first soe judge, having never been in the like places before; yett having information of the aforesaid, and seeing that the said places were turned in the abstracts, and as plowlands and as parishes, and were some men's whole estates, and that we were informed that the said coarse plowlands formerly paid contribution or taxes with the rest of the countrey, when the same was levied by plowlands, therefore we could not but judge these places good for something, and resolved to make something of them.'

Dr. Petty had himself noticed, apart from the possible agricultural value of the land at some future date, the facilities which the geographical situation, the land-locked harbours, the extensive forests, the valuable quarries, and other natural resources of the county might give in the development of other than merely agricultural wealth. He therefore added largely by purchase to the original allotment which he had received in that desolate district in payment of his services on the survey. Aubrey described him, in 1661, as able 'from Mount Mangerton in that county to behold 50,000 acres of his own land,' most of it, indeed, waste and unprofitable, but