THE FIFE ADVENTURERS. 183 



see hereafter ; but he was more at home with the sword 

 than with the pen. The suggestion, therefore, that these 

 men were mere savages, who were destitute alike of man- 

 ners, morals, and education, is not borne out by facts. Mur- 

 doch, as the elder brother, was in supreme command of 

 Lewis ; according to Spotswood, he " carried himself as 

 Lord of the Isle," but used his authority in a tyrannical 

 manner. The two brothers, who were probably made 

 aware of the departure of the expedition to Lewis, pre- 

 pared to resist the Lowlanders. There are no details of 

 the fighting which took place, but the resistance appears 

 to have been of an obstinate character. It was, however, 

 finally broken down ; and in December, the news reached 

 Edinburgh that Stornoway Castle had been captured. 

 Murdoch Macleod, who is said to have distrusted the 

 fidelity of his followers, fled from Lewis, and apparently 

 took refuge with Torquil Conanach, whose partisan he had 

 consistently been throughout his career. Neil seems to 

 have remained in Lewis, with the object of worrying the 

 colonists by means of guerilla warfare. 



Having temporarily overawed the natives, the Low- 

 landers now commenced preliminary operations for an 

 effective settlement of the island. Towards the Lewis 

 people generally, they appear, notwithstanding their blood- 

 thirsty mandate, to have acted with moderation. Either 

 the power, or the will, or perhaps both, were wanting to 

 initiate a policy of extermination. It is not improbable 

 that they quickly made the discovery, that they had to 

 deal with a people whose character had been painted in 

 darker colours than the facts warranted. Their own posi- 

 tion was not particularly enviable. They found themselves 

 threatened with a scarcity of provisions, for the natives 

 had apparently cleared the country of supplies. Their 

 shelter was inadequate, the encampment they had formed 

 being insufficient to protect them against the November 

 gales and the dampness of the climate. Exposure brought 

 on an epidemic of flux or dysentery, to which many of the 

 colonists succumbed. It was under these circumstances 



