The wild Macraes seem to have been men of much the same stamp as the Youngs, and Seaforth doubtless had his own reasons for wishing to get quit of them. These _caterans_ were as much attached to their native land as if they had been the possessors of countless acres; they were their own masters, and had tasted the sweets of liberty. Seaforth knew that he could never persuade such men to enlist for foreign service, but he had sufficient influence to induce them to serve for a limited period at home, or rather to join the 78th on that understanding. It was only on reaching Leith that they discovered that they were intended for service in the East Indies, when symptoms of disaffection appeared among them. The report spread that Seaforth had sold them to the government. Loud complaints were heard that they had been cheated of their pay and bounty money. The wild Macraes were not the men tamely to submit to such injuries, and the stinging sense of wrong was intensified by the representations of certain parties hostile to the government of the day. Their slumbering discontent broke forth into open mutiny on receiving orders to embark; they absolutely refused to do so, and marched out of Leith with pipes playing, and two plaids fixed on poles instead of colours. On reaching Arthur’s Seat—the beautiful hill which overlooks Edinburgh, and is familiar to every tourist who has visited the North—they encamped on its summit, and remained there for several days. Though in a state of open mutiny, they respected the property of the citizens, and conducted themselves with so much propriety that public sympathy was excited in their favour, especially among the lower classes, who supplied them abundantly with provisions. The authorities deemed it more prudent to inquire into their grievances than to attempt to reduce them by force. After much negotiation they professed themselves satisfied, and marched back to their quarters at Leith with pipes playing and Seaforth at their head. After serving for some time in the Channel Islands, they embarked in March, 1781, for the East Indies. Seaforth died during the voyage, before he reached St. Helena, and his death had such a depressing effect upon the men, that no less than 230 of them died before they reached India. They took part in all the different battles which were fought till the conclusion of peace in 1783, when, in terms of their agreement with government, they had a right to return home. Few of the Macraes lived to revisit their native land; most of them had died during the voyage, or succumbed to the fatal effects of the enervating climate. Only 300 of the men remained in India; but these, reinforced by volunteers from other regiments returning home, and by a detachment of 200 recruits from the North, were formed into a new regiment, which has ever since been known as the 72nd, or Duke of Albany’s Own Highlanders. [Illustration: The March of the Wild Macraes to Arthur’s Seat.]