But time was on the side of Mrs. Marion MacMillan.

Mr. DeGroote, who recently abandoned his claim to the 7.5-acre private island in Riddell's Bay, told The Royal Gazette that the American grain heiress who lived there wore him out.

"I just got fed up,'' the Canadian self-made millionaire said yesterday. Last year, when Puisne Judge the Hon. Mr. Justice Ground ruled that Mrs. MacMillan had to honour a 1990 deal she signed to sell him the island for $8.5 million, Mr. DeGroote felt he had "a very clear win''.

Mrs. MacMillan, whose attachment to the island grew stronger after she agreed to sell, turned to the Court of Appeal. The case was first expected to be heard last July. But it was delayed to November, and finally to early this year, Mr. DeGroote said.

He was also told Mrs. MacMillan was ready to appeal again to the Privy Council, which would drag the case into 1996.

"The whole thing has just been insane,'' said Mr. DeGroote, 60. "I'm not getting any younger and I just wasn't prepared to spend half my life fighting for this piece of property.

"I just got fed up and frustrated with the system.'' About a month ago, he told his lawyer Mr. John Riihiluoma to settle the case.

"Just get me out of it,'' Mr. DeGroote told him.

While he would not disclose how much he received from Mrs. MacMillan to abandon his claim to the island, Mr. DeGroote said there was absolutely no truth to a report that the settlement was $10 million.

"I got back a small portion of my out-of-pocket expenses, plus my legal fees,'' he said. "I really can't say anything more than that.'' He also told Mr. Riihiluoma to make sure the real estate agents involved were paid their commissions, plus their legal expenses, he said.

"I think the realtors handled the whole thing in a straightforward manner,'' he said.

Mr. DeGroote, who has been living in a $6.5-million Paget home called Evergreen, said he was "quite happy (there) at the moment,'' and had made no decisions about looking elsewhere.

The case had not turned him off Bermuda, but "it has not been a happy situation'', Mr. DeGroote said. "I came to Bermuda for a quieter time, and this has been very public.'' Mrs. MacMillan, 60, who told the court she wanted to set up a retreat on the island for people who needed psychological counselling, was "very pleased'' with the settlement, her lawyer Mr. Julian Hall said.

Cargill, the MacMillan family company, is the largest private firm in the United States, valued at $47 billion. Mrs. MacMillan's personal fortune is estimated at $700 million.

Mr. DeGroote, who was born in Belgium, is the former head of the Canadian waste and transportation giant Laidlaw.