"You hear, gentlemen," he said to his Lowland officers; "you hear the opinion of one who understands Highland war better than any of us." No voice was raised on the other side.

It was determined to fight; and the confederated clans in high spirits set forward to encounter the enemy.
The enemy meanwhile had made his way up the pass.

The ascent had been long and toilsome: for even the foot had to climb by twos and threes; and the baggage horses, twelve hundred in number, could mount only one at a time.

No wheeled carriage had ever been tugged up that arduous path.

The head of the column had emerged and was on the table land, while the rearguard was still in the plain below.