The prince sate down upon the rock where they had land’d, and, being quite overcome for want of rest, he fell asleep, and so did O’Neil; during the time they slept Neil thought proper to take a walk round about for fear that any body should come upon them at any unawares; but he had not gone ten yards from them, when he observed an arm of the sea come in betwixt him and the rest of the land, which formed an island; he returned immediately and informed the prince, who started up like a mad man and walked to the end of the island at such a rate as if he had a mind to fly over to the other side, but his career was soon stopped; whereupon he fell a scoulding Neil as if it had been his fault, and the curse rascals (meaning the boatmen) who land’d them upon that desert island designedly that he might starve with hunger and cold, in short, there was no pacifying him till, at last, Neil told him to comfort himself, that he would sweem over to the other side and would bring a boat in half an hour’s time, from that moment he never gave Neil one minute’s rest, till, to please him, he began to strip, notwithstanding that it rained most prodigiously, when luckily Neil observed a rock appearing in the middle of the sound, and begg’d of the prince to allow him a little more time, that it seem’d very probable at low water they could pass over with dry feet without being obliged to hazard his life by sweeming, which was to be the ultimate resource, which happened accordingly, for in less than three quarters of an hour’s time, they passed over without wetting the soles of their shoes.[501] The prince seem’d as well pleased when he got out of that labyrinth as if he was landed in France; he was so cold (for the rain pierced to his very skin) that he trembled, the moor being so plain that there was not the least bush, eminence, or hill to cover him from the weather, and he was so hungry that he was not able to walk, having eaten not a mouthful of any kind since the evening before. In this deplorable condition it was hard to determine how to behave, but as there was no time to be lost, despite of rain and weather, he continued his journey for Roshiness, where he expected to find the ladies before him that night. When they had walkt about a quarter of a mile, they lighted accidentally upon two sheelings, where two of Clanranald’s tennants stay’d, who, seeing them coming, came to meet them. Neil, to prevent their coming too nigh, stept on and met them; they enquired what were these other two that came along with him.