I say it kept hope alive ; and indeed it seemed impossible that I should be left to die on the shores of my own country , and within view of a church-tower and the smoke of men 's houses . But the second day passed ; and though as long as the light lasted I kept a bright look-out for boats on the Sound or men passing on the Ross , no help came near me . It still rained , and I turned in to sleep , as wet as ever , and with a cruel sore throat , but a little comforted , perhaps , by having said good-night to my next neighbours , the people of Iona . Charles the Second declared a man could stay outdoors more days in the year in the climate of England than in any other . This was very like a king , with a palace at his back and changes of dry clothes . But he must have had better luck on his flight from Worcester than I had on that miserable isle . It was the height of the summer ; yet it rained for more than twenty-four hours , and did not clear until the afternoon of the third day . This was the day of incidents . In the morning I saw a red deer , a buck with a fine spread of antlers , standing in the rain on the top of the island ; but he had scarce seen me rise from under my rock , before he trotted off upon the other side . I supposed he must have swum the strait ; though what should bring any creature to Earraid , was more than I could fancy . A little after , as I was jumping about after my limpets , I was startled by a guinea-piece , which fell upon a rock in front of me and glanced off into the sea . When the sailors gave me my money again , they kept back not only about a third of the whole sum , but my father 's leather purse ; so that from that day out , I carried my gold loose in a pocket with a button . I now saw there must be a hole , and clapped my hand to the place in a great hurry . But this was to lock the stable door after the steed was stolen . I had left the shore at Queensferry with near on fifty pounds ; now I found no more than two guinea-pieces and a silver shilling . It is true I picked up a third guinea a little after , where it lay shining on a piece of turf . That made a fortune of three pounds and four shillings , English money , for a lad , the rightful heir of an estate , and now starving on an isle at the extreme end of the wild Highlands . This state of my affairs dashed me still further ; and , indeed my plight on that third morning was truly pitiful . My clothes were beginning to rot ; my stockings in particular were quite worn through , so that my shanks went naked ; my hands had grown quite soft with the continual soaking ; my throat was very sore , my strength had much abated , and my heart so turned against the horrid stuff I was condemned to eat , that the very sight of it came near to sicken me . And yet the worst was not yet come .
There is a pretty high rock on the northwest of XXXXX , which -LRB- because it had a flat top and overlooked the Sound -RRB- I was much in the habit of frequenting ; not that ever I stayed in one place , save when asleep , my misery giving me no rest .
Earraid antlers day guinea-pieces limpets look-out morning pounds shilling third