* * * * *
N.B.--Donald MacLeod is much more to be depended upon than Ned
Burk in the account of things, because Ned [Sidenote: _fol._
345.] can neither write nor read, and was near thirty years of
age before he could speak one word of English. Ned had a great
difficulty to put things together in any tolerable way, as he
is one of these honest, low men that are intent for the present
upon doing their duty with fidelity without minding anything
else. Such honest, plain persons as these allow the world to
rub on as it pleases, and never once trouble their heads about
making observations and remarks upon the occurrences of life
as they pass along. If they jog on from day to day they ask
no more, and are very much strangers to the exercises of the
memory. Besides, honest, plain, rough Ned had never entertained
a notion that any journal or account would ever be asked of
him, or else perhaps he would have stored his memory with a
more plentiful stock, as he had abundance of materials to work
upon. Honest Ned is not (by his own confession) much above forty
years of age, and is both stout and sturdy for all he has gone
through.[155]
[155] See p. 1706.