The Prince and his party took seven days to reach Loch nan Uamh; however, Cluny did not travel beyond the south shore of Loch Arkaig which was reached on the fifth day. There the Prince bid Cluny farewell. At some point it had been decided that Cluny would remain in Scotland to look after the Prince's interests and, where possible, to aid his loyal followers. How enthusiastically Cluny accepted this mission we can only surmise based on his subsequent actions. What is certain is the note the Prince gave him and which has survived in the Macpherson Museum archives. A facsimile of it is shown in the figure below. Essentially, it states that the Prince recognised the great losses that Cluny and the Clan had sustained in his behalf and that he promised to compensate them when he was in a position to do so. The following day the Prince and his party continued on to Loch nan Uamh; the ships departed on 20th September.

      It has been charged by some historians that the Prince did little to help the clansmen who had fought for him and suffered in consequence. There is another note in the Museum archives that refutes that allegation and shows that he did what he could to help them at the earliest possible moment. Shortly after boarding the ship the Prince borrowed every penny that he could raise from the officers and other gentlemen on board. It amounted to £750, a sum worth twenty- five times that today. This money was sent with the following note to Ewan who had waited at Loch Arkaig for news that the ships had sailed. In the Prince's phonetic English it states "on board the Ship for France:

      This document was Cluny's commission -- one that would preoccupy him for the next ten years and one that would poison relations among Scottish Jacobites, lead to forgery and cause him much personal grief. The hundred pound disparity was not the source of Cluny's distress nor was the distribution of the £750 to the designated recipients and the rendering of receipts. Cluny faithfully carried out his instructions, as shown by the receipts that reside in the Macpherson Archives. The receipt for the largest item reads as follows:

"I Angus Cameron in Downan, Brother german to Glenneves grant me to have received from Ewan McPherson of Cluny three hundred pounds sterling as the proportion of the money left by his Highness P.R. for the imediate substistance of Locheil's Regiment by virtue of his own order to Cluny writ on board the ship for France -- which sum I promise will hold count in witness whereof I have written and subscribed these presents at Stronacardoch this sixth day of October 1746 by Angus Cameron."

Three other receipts are also archived and read much the same as the one shown. Allowing for the £100 allocated to Cluny the four account for every penny of the £750.

      The principal source of Cluny's distress in the following years was the custody and fate of the Jacobite army's financial war-chest that came to be known as the Locharkaig Treasure. This story will be described on the next panel.