from the loch, but the faithful guide had contrived to catch two salmon, which, as he himself informs us, he "made ready in the best manner he could, and the meat was reckoned very savoury and acceptable."*

At Invergarry, the whole of the party took leave of their unfortunate master, with the exception of O'Sullivan, O'Neal, and Edward Burke; the Prince putting on the coat of the latter for the purpose of disguising himself. About three o'clock he again rode forward in the direction of Loch Arkaig. It may be here mentioned, that when the English troops subsequently visited Invergarry, it was made to pay a severe penalty for having afforded a resting-place to the Prince. The plate was carried off and melted; the house and grounds were laid waste; and the military even carried their vengeance so far as to blow up with gunpowder two beautiful chestnut trees, which were the ornament of the place.

The little party reached Loch Arkaig at nine o'clock in the evening, when Charles took up his quarters in the house of Donald Cameron of Glenpean. So completely was he worn out with the fatigues which he had lately undergone, that he fell asleep while Edward Burke was unbuttoning his splatterdashes, from which, as the latter informs us, "there fell out seven guineas." The next morning, the 18th, he proceeded to Mewboll, in Clanranald's country, where he passed the night. Here the whole party were compelled to abandon their horses and to proceed on foot, there being no longer any roads in the route they were about to pursue. On the evening of the 19th, Charles found himself at Oban, near the head of Loch Morar, where he was compelled to sleep in a

* Edward Burke's Journal, Jacobite Memoirs, p. 364.

wretched hovel used for shearing sheep. The next day he laboured on foot over a range of high and rugged hills, and in the evening arrived at the small village of Glenbiasdale in Arisaig, near the spot where he had first set his foot on Scottish ground.

From Glenbiasdale Charles wrote to his followers at Ruthven,-where they had assembled to about the number of a thousand men,-expressing the deepest gratitude for all the gallantry and the devotion which they had displayed in his cause. Circumstances, he said, compelled him at present to retire to France; but he trusted ere long to return from that country, bringing with him succours which would be certain to insure success. In the mean time he recommended that each of them should look to their own safety, and it was his earnest prayer, he said, that the Almighty should bless and direct them.

There were many among the Highland chieftains who clung to the fond belief, that the game which they had been playing was not yet lost, and that the enterprise might still be crowned with success. To these persons the Prince's letter came as the deathblow to their hopes. "Our separation at Ruthven," says the Chevalier de Johnstone, "was truly affecting: we bade one another an eternal adieu. No one could tell whether the scaffold would not be his fate. The Highlanders gave vent to their grief in wild howlings and lamentations; the tears flowed down their cheeks when they thought that their country was now at the discretion of the Duke of Cumberland, and on the point of being plundered; whilst they and their children would be reduced to slavery, and plunged, without resource, into a state of remediless distress."

In consequence of information which Charles received

at Glenbiasdale of the number of English cruisers which were lying in wait for him along the coast, he determined, by the advice of his followers, to remove to the Western Isles, where it was hoped that he would meet with greater facility in obtaining a passage on board a foreign ship. The individual who had the high compliment paid him of being selected to be the guide of the unfortunate Prince during his approaching expedition, was one Donald Macleod, a faithful and gallant old Highlander from the Isle of Skye, who was intimately acquainted with the difficult navigation of the neighbouring seas, and who had recently been entrusted with the important mission of bringing off a large sum of money from the Island of Barra, which had been left there by a French vessel. Macleod was at this period at Kinlochmoidart, where a messenger was despatched to him, directing him to repair immediately to the Prince at Borrodaile. He immediately set out on his journey; and the first person he encountered on approaching Glenbiasdale, was the Prince himself, who was walking alone in the wood. He advanced towards the old man, and inquired of him if he was Donald Macleod of Guattergill, in the Isle of Skye? "I am the same man, your Highness," was the plain-spoken reply; "I am at your service; what is your pleasure with me?" "Then," said the Prince," you see, Donald, I am in distress; I throw myself into your bosom, and let you do with me what you like. I hear you are an honest man, and fit to be trusted." "When Donald," says Bishop Forbes, "was giving me this part of the narrative, he grat sore; the tears came running down his cheeks, and he said, 'What diel could help greeting, when speaking on sic a sad sub. ject?""

The first request which Charles preferred to Donald

was to carry letters from him to Sir Alexander Macdonald and the Laird of Macleod, who had formerly been the loudest in their professions of devotion to his cause, but who, as has been already mentioned, had treacherously made their peace with the Government. This mission, however, Donald positively refused to undertake. "Does not your Excellency know," he said, "that these men have played the rogue to you? and will you trust them again?" He mentioned also the fact, which-as Charles still clung fondly to the belief that they were secretly his wellwishers—must have been extremely painful to him, that both these renegade chieftains were searching for him with their followers in all directions, and this within a distance of not more than ten miles from Glenbiasdale. The Prince then remarked, “I hear, Donald, you are a good pilot, and know all this coast well. I hope, therefore, you will carry me safely through the islands, where may look for more safety than I can do here." The old Highlander immediately assented, adding, that there was no personal risk which he would not undergo to insure the safety of his Prince.

I

Accordingly, an eight-oared boat having been procured, Charles, in the dusk of the evening of the 24th of April embarked at Lochnanuagh, near the place where he had first landed in the Highlands. Besides the Prince, there were twelve persons embarked in the boat-O'Sullivan, O'Neal, Allan Macdonald, Donald Macleod, and eight watermen, of whom Edward Burke, the Prince's guide from Culloden, acted as one. Donald Macleod took the helm, with the Prince seated between his knees. One of the watermen, it may be mentioned, was the son of Macleod, a youth of only fifteen years of age. So infected was he with the enthusiasm of the times, that he had run

away from a grammar-shool at Inverness, and having contrived to provide himself with a broadsword, dirk, and pistol, he arrived on the field of Culloden in time to share the dangers of the battle. He subsequently found means to trace the road that Charles had taken; and after tracking him from place to place, at length joined him at Glenbiasdale. แ "And," said Donald to Bishop Forbes, "this was the way that I met wi' my poor boy."

Previous to their embarkation, the experienced eye of Donald Macleod had assured him that a storm was gathering, and he earnestly entreated the Prince to defer his departure till the following day. Charles, however, anxious to escape the dangers which threatened him on the main land, insisted on putting to sea. They had proceeded only a short distance, when a storm arose, which Macleod himself-though a seafaring man, and accustomed to the squally tempests which rage among the Western Islands-assures us in his Narrative was "greater than any he had ever been trysted with before." In addition to the lightning and thunder, and the tempestuous sea, the rain came down in torrents, and they had no pump with which to lighten their small vessel; the night also was extremely dark, and they were without a compass to guide them on their way. Charles now began to perceive his danger, and expressed a wish to return to the shore; but Donald explained to him that the attempt would be a vain one, adding, that it was "as good for them to be drowned in clean water, as to be dashed in pieces upon a rock and be drowned too." Though little accustomed to the raging element on which he was now borne, Charles exhibited neither fear nor perturbation, but, on the contrary, expressed more than once his confidence in the mercy and goodness of Providence, and at