says he , `` when that is what he is . It was Maclean of Duart gave it to him because he was blind . But perhaps it was a peety , '' says my host , `` for he is always on the road , going from one place to another to hear the young folk say their religion ; and , doubtless , that is a great temptation to the poor man . '' At last , when my landlord could drink no more , he showed me to a bed , and I lay down in very good spirits ; having travelled the greater part of that big and crooked Island of Mull , from Earraid to Torosay , fifty miles as the crow flies , and -LRB- with my wanderings -RRB- much nearer a hundred , in four days and with little fatigue . Indeed I was by far in better heart and health of body at the end of that long tramp than I had been at the beginning . CHAPTER XVI THE LAD WITH THE SILVER BUTTON : ACROSS MORVEN There is a regular ferry from Torosay to Kinlochaline on the mainland . Both shores of the Sound are in the country of the strong clan of the Macleans , and the people that passed the ferry with me were almost all of that clan . The skipper of the boat , on the other hand , was called Neil Roy Macrob ; and since Macrob was one of the names of Alan 's clansmen , and Alan himself had sent me to that ferry , I was eager to come to private speech of Neil Roy . In the crowded boat this was of course impossible , and the passage was a very slow affair . There was no wind , and as the boat was wretchedly equipped , we could pull but two oars on one side , and one on the other . The men gave way , however , with a good will , the passengers taking spells to help them , and the whole company giving the time in Gaelic boat-songs . And what with the songs , and the sea-air , and the good-nature and spirit of all concerned , and the bright weather , the passage was a pretty thing to have seen . But there was one melancholy part . In the mouth of Loch Aline we found a great sea-going ship at anchor ; and this I supposed at first to be one of the King 's cruisers which were kept along that coast , both summer and winter , to prevent communication with the French . As we got a little nearer , it became plain she was a ship of merchandise ; and what still more puzzled me , not only her decks , but the sea-beach also , were quite black with people , and skiffs were continually plying to and fro between them . Yet nearer , and there began to come to our ears a great sound of mourning , the people on board and those on the shore crying and lamenting one to another so as to pierce the heart . Then I understood this was an emigrant ship bound for the American colonies . We put the ferry-boat alongside , and the exiles leaned over the bulwarks , weeping and reaching out their hands to my fellow-passengers , among whom they counted some near friends . How long this might have gone on I do not know , for they seemed to have no sense of time : but at last the captain of the ship , who seemed near beside himself -LRB- and no great wonder -RRB- in the midst of this crying and confusion , came to the side and begged us to depart . Thereupon Neil sheered off ; and the chief singer in our boat struck into a melancholy air , which was presently taken up both by the emigrants and their friends upon the beach , so that it sounded from all sides like a lament for the dying .
I saw the tears run down the cheeks of the men and women in the boat , even as they bent at the XXXXX ; and the circumstances and the music of the song -LRB- which is one called `` Lochaber no more '' -RRB- were highly affecting even to myself .
Duart King Kinlochaline MORVEN Macrob Neil fro good-nature oars peety