stinate and bloody action ensued. The Elizabeth was so disabled
that she could not prosecute the voyage, and with difficulty reached the
harbour of Brest; but the Lion was shattered to such a degree, that she
floated like a wreck upon the water. The disaster of the Elizabeth was
a great misfortune to the adventurer, as by her being disabled he lost
a great quantity of arms, and about one hundred able officers, who were
embarked on board of her for the benefit of his expedition. Had this
ship arrived in Scotland, she could easily have reduced Fort William,
situated in the midst of the clans attached to the Stuart family. Such a
conquest, by giving lustre to the prince's arms, would have allured
many to his standard, who were indifferent in point of principle;
and encouraged a great number of highlanders to join him, who were
restricted by the apprehension, that their wives and families would be
subject to insults from the English garrison of this fortress. Prince
Charles, in the frigate, continued his course to the western isles of
Scotland. After a voyage of eighteen days he landed on a little island
between Barra and South-Inst, two of the Hebrides; then he re-embarked,
and in a few days arrived at Borodale in Amsacy, on the confines of
Lochnannach, where he was in a little time joined by a considerable
number of hardy mountaineers, under their respective chiefs and leaders.
On the nineteenth day of August, the marquis of Tullibardine erected
the pretender's standard at Glensinnan. Some of those, however, on whom
Charles principally depended, now stood aloof, either fluctuating in
their principles, astonished at the boldness of the undertaking, or
startled at the remonstrances of their friends, who did not fail to
represent, in aggravated colours, all the danger of embarking in such a
desperate enterprise. Had the government acted with proper vigour when
they received intelligence of his arrival, the adventurer must have been
crushed in embryo, before any considerable number of his adherents
could have been brought together; but the lords of the regency seemed
to slight the information, and even to suspect the integrity of those by
whom it was conveyed. They were soon convinced of their mistake. Prince
Charles having assembled about twelve hundred men, encamped in the
neighbourhood of Fort William; and immediately hostilities were
commenced. A handful of Keppoch's clan, commanded by major Donald
Macdonald, even before th