at Greenock. Here also, the principal gentlemen of the place waited on us, and paid us the most polite attention.

-The progress and entertainment of these two days I have copied, verbatim, from notes then taken; and, as there was little variety, in these two respects, during the remainder of our journey, I shall only add, that we did not, in any one instance, fare worse, and, in more than one, not only much better, but sumptuously. In Aberdeen, our dinner was equal to any thing of the kind I have ever seen or tasted, in variety and elegance. We sat down to twenty-seven dishes, including all the rarities of the country, cooked in style, and elegantly laid out, Our side-board made a good appearance; five servants attended us; our wine, both red and white, was good; and the quantity left to our own discretion. In the evening, we had several visitants, among whom were some of the magistrates, military gentlemen, and other genteel inhabitants of the place; as also captain Bird, commander of our military escort, who politely came to take leave of us, after an accompaniment of 181 miles. To him and the dragoons under his command, I feel that my feeble praise is justly due. During this long, and to them cold, and fatiguing journey, his and their behaviour to us was attentive and respectful; and, though in our approach to some of the larger

larger towns, and passage along their streets, the crowd was so compact that progressive motion was scarcely possible, not an individual received a blow, an insult, or even an impassioned curse, except in one instance so far as I know. Justice calls for the same tribute, without exception, to the Windsor Forresters, an equal number of which accompanied us, during the remainder of our tour, 107 miles. Where I do. hazard a supposition, I would add that we owed to the splendor of our coaches and respectful behaviour of our guards, some share of that respect, which was paid us by the multitude, in many places, through which we passed. On our route, from Bamff to Fort George, it was more than once observed, "that we must be very great men, or we would not have been escorted by such a retinue." This idea was not unnatural, as a troop of horse had not been seen, in that quarter, from 1746 until our arrival.

Of the military, who not only guarded the doors, but encompassed the walls, of the Inns where we breakfasted, took our meridian refreshment, or dined and slept, my feelings oblige me to express my unqualified approbation. They were, generally, the volunteers (yeomen) of the towns and villages, where we stopped. The conduct of the privates was uniformly correct, inoffensive, and discreet; and to the officers we owed some of the comforts,

and

and much of the local information, which our journey supplied. To the gentlemen of Perth, in particular, I am indebted for personal attentions, the recollection of which I shall ever cherish with gratitude and pleasure.

Of the magistrates, and other gentlemen, who were admitted to visit us, during nine successive evenings, I must say, that their conduct was to us truly pleasing. We had not one instance of impertinent intrusion, or even an attempt, so far as I know, to procure admission to our room, without our previous consent: nor do I recollect a word, or look, which could lead to the suspi cion that their object was merely to stare at, much less to insult, "wild Irishmen," or " Irish rebels," or both united." That their curiosity was strong, not only to see, but to converse with, us, cannot be doubted, from the rumors that must have preceded 'ns; especially, as the person and manners of an Irishman were as much unknown to the great mass of the Highland people, soldiers and a few sailors excepted, as those of a hottentot, esquimaux, or laplander. Yet, generally, an interest in our situation seemed stronger than the desire of knowing who we were, or what we were like; and several when leaving us, expressed, not only their wish but hope, that we would be speedily released, and restored to our liberty, country, and friends.

From our outset, on this journey, till our arrival at Fort-George, the attention and servicesof our civil guardians, his majesty's messengers, were great and uninterrupted. While they watched over us, they were uniformly ministering to us, morning, noon, and night: so that our comfortable accommodation seemed as much an object of their care, as our safe custody. Nor were their services confined to the supply of present wants. Alarms imposed upon them the task of providing for our security against future evils. At Greenock, we got accounts of Fort-George, equally unfavorable and unfounded. The account of the climate was chilling; and that of the supposed difficulty of procuring clothes suitable to it half-froze us. Hence we determined to purchase, by the way, flannels, warm waistcoatings, wrappers, &c. &c. whereever to be had, and to have them stowed in our coaches. On mentioning this determination to our guardians who were also our purse-bearers, they kindly proposed to purchase for us, and pay, our accounts, which they did to a considerable amount, to our great satisfaction, and with In the equally great trouble to themselves. different towns, where we spent a night, they went from shop to shop, and, where orders were not sufficiently explicit, they had the goods sent to us, that we might choose and market, according to our own judgment. In

this

this and every thing else, by which they could serve us, all three were civil and obliging; but Mr. Sylvester acted the part of a brother, or rather submitted to the drudgery of a slave, during our whole journey.

Justice, honor, gratitude, jointly demand that I should now say something of major, afterwards colonel, Hay; and of him I can say nothing but good. His attention and fatigue were great indeed. During the ten days of our journey we never saw him, till after dinner, and then, only for a short time. Though he had expresses regularly forwarded, to have provision made for our entertainment and accommodation, yet he was off before us, on horseback, every morning, in time to have our breakfast set out at the first stage, while he was taking his own. In like manner he preceded us to the second, and ordered cold meat and other refreshments to be in readiness for us. And, at the evening stage he visited the kitchen, examined the beds in the house, and where the number was short of twenty, or the quality not sufficiently good, he ordered the deficiency to be supplied by the principal inhabitants of the place. In short, his conduct, both on our journey and afterwards, was such, that, when we saw the account of his having fallen a victim, in the Helder expedition, we mourned him as a brother.