ackenzie suddenly remembered how dry it was on shore,
and put off for land as fast as oars would hurry him. Next day he sent
a pompous challenge to the commander of the vessel. It was, of course,
ignored.

In spite of obstacles, little by little the arrangements for the ocean
voyage were being completed. There were many irritating delays.
Disputes about wages broke out afresh when inequalities were
discovered. There was much wrangling among the emigrants as to their
quarters on the uninviting _Edward and Ann_. At the last moment a
number of the party took fear and decided to stay at home. {42} Some
left the ship in unceremonious fashion, even forgetting their effects.
These were subsequently sold among the passengers. 'One man,' wrote
Captain Macdonell, 'jumped into the sea and swam for it until he was
picked up.' It may be believed that the governor of Assiniboia heaved
a thankful sigh when the ships were ready to hoist their sails. 'It
has been a herculean task,' ran the text of his parting message to the
Earl of Selkirk.

On July 26 a favourable breeze bore the vessels out to sea. There were
now one hundred and five in the party, seventy of whom had professed an
intention to till the soil. The remainder had been indentured as
servants of the Hudson's Bay Company. Seventy-six of the total number
were quartered on board the _Edward and Ann_. As the vessels swept
seaward many eyes were fastened sadly on the receding shore. The white
houses of Stornoway loomed up distinctly across the dark waters of the
bay. The hill which rose gloomily in the background was treeless and
inky black. On the clean shingle lay the cod and herring, piled loose
to catch the sun's warm rays. The settlers remembered that they were
perhaps scanning for the last time the rugged outline {43} of that
heather-clad landscape, and their hearts grew sick within them.
Foreland after foreland came into view and disappeared. At length the
ships were skirting the Butt of Lewis with its wave-worn clefts and
caverns. Then all sight of land vanished, and they were steering their
course into the northern main.

A man-of-war had been sent as a convoy to the vessels, for the
quick-sailing frigates of France had been harrying British shipping,
and the mercantile marine needed protection. After standing guard to a
point four hundred miles off the Irish coast, the ship-of-the-line
turned back, and the three vessels held their way alone in a t