444 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES. 



The wind grew in strength, and soon a storm was raging, 

 as a storm can rage in those parts, even in the month of 

 April. Donald Macleod was at the helm, and the Prince 

 sat in the bottom of the boat at his feet. The storm 

 increasing, Charles wanted to turn back. " Impossible," 

 said the pilot, " we shall run the risk of being dashed to 

 pieces against the rocks ; we must go on now." And on 

 they went into the inky blackness of the night, lit up 

 occasionally by vivid flashes of lightning. The howling of 

 the wind and the crashing of peal after peal of thunder 

 were appalling. Accustomed as he was to the vagaries of 

 the Minch, even Donald Macleod had never experienced 

 such a terrible storm. To add to their misfortunes, a 

 deluge of rain which persisted throughout the night, 

 soaked the occupants of the boat to the skin. The dark- 

 ness was such that the pilot, who knew every inch of the 

 coast, was for most of the time quite unable to make out 

 his bearings and had to trust to luck. Fortune favoured 

 them, for at dawn they found themselves off the Long 

 Island. The boat was at once headed for the nearest land, 

 which proved to be Rossinish, on the north-west coast of 

 Benbecula, where they landed, glad to find themselves on 

 terra firma after such a trying experience. They hauled 

 the boat up and entered an uninhabited hut, where they 

 made a fire and dried their clothes. An old sail was 

 spread on the floor to make a bed for the Prince, on which 

 he slept soundly. A herd boy of Clanranald's observed 

 with startled eyes the arrival of the party. He immediately 

 went off at top speed to inform his master at Nunton.* 

 The latter was at dinner, one of his guests being the 

 Rev. John Macaulay, Presbyterian minister of South Uist, 

 Lord Macaulay 's grandfather, and a descendant of Donald 

 Cam Macaulay. Clanranald sent one Donald Macdonald 

 to find all about the strangers at Rossinish. Macaulay, 

 who, it will be remembered, suspected the identity of 



* Ormaclett in South Uist, the former residence of the Clanranald chiefs, 

 was burnt down on the day Clanranald fell at Sheriffmuir, and has never been 

 rebuilt. The chiefs afterwards lived at Nunton in Benbecula. 



