Life of Flora Macdonald and her adventures with Prince Charles

84
sturdy, well-picked men, and excellent seamen, well skilled
in managing their craft in a storm, and yet that night they
had much to do. Their utmost energies were called forth
to manage their boat amid the raging billows. They had
no compass, and when less than two hours at sea, the
storm increased to such a terrific degree, that the ocean was
lashed into deep, foaming waves ! At that moment, as if
to add to their already indescribable terror, thunder rolled
in rattling peals over their heads, while the lightning flashed
from cloud to cloud in the murky atmosphere ! The crew
had to steer before the wind, which frequently shifted, and
for hours they were entirely at the mercy of the raging
elements. Yet they did their work calmly and steadily,
though at times they instinctively exclaimed to one another
— " Ochan ! is ochan ! is e tha garbh ! is e tha garbh."
" Alas ! alas ; it is rough ; it is rough " — and so it was.
The Prince all along behaved nobly. He cheered and
animated the seamen by relating anecdotes, but chiefly by
singing verses of sea-songs. Poor Flora, anxious and fatigued,
and no doubt alive to the many dangers that surrounded
her, became overpowered with sleep. She lay on the ballast
of the boat wrapped in a plaid, and the Prince kept watch
to prevent her slumbers from being disturbed. At break
of day they were greatly perplexed at seeing no land in any
direction — nothing visible but the azure horizon all round,
and without a compass they did not know how to direct
their craft. The storm had by this time fortunately moder-
ated, and while the seamen had been steering at random for
so many hours, their hearts were at last cheered, by be-
holding in the dim distance the lofty headlands of Skye.
They made speedily for the shore, and soon approached the
Point of Waternish, a promontory on the north-west coast of
that island. But who can judge of their dismay, when, on