l than the bullet, powder was a necessity of
war that could not well be altogether dispensed with. Dundee also urged
upon Melfort the good effect James' own presence would have upon his
Scottish allies. If that could not be managed, he said, at least let him
send the Duke of Berwick. There was no petty jealousy in Dundee's
character. He would have cheerfully put himself under the command of any
man if by so doing he were likely to further the cause he had at heart.
But no answer came to these appeals. In one of the last letters Dundee
wrote, he reminds Melfort that for three months he had received not a
single line from him or from James.

Meanwhile, his tact, his good temper, courtesy, and liberality had won
the hearts of his new allies. With the money he had brought with him
from the Lowlands, and the supplies his wife and some of his friends
were able occasionally to send him, he contrived to maintain an
establishment that was at least superior to anything which most of his
new friends were accustomed to. Every day he entertained some of the
chiefs at his table. He made himself acquainted with the faces and names
of the principal tacksmen of each clan, and mastered a few words of
Gaelic to enable him to address and return salutations. In the field he
lived no better than the meanest of his men, sharing their coarse food
and hard lodging, and often marching on foot by their side over the
roughest country and in the wildest weather. His powers of endurance
extorted the wonder even of those sturdy mountaineers who had been
inured from childhood to the extremes of hunger and fatigue. More than a
century after his death it was still told with admiration how once,
after chasing Mackay from dawn to sunset of a summer's day over the
ruggedest part of the Athole country, he had spent the night in writing,
only resting his head occasionally on his hands to snatch a few moments
of sleep. Among the Camerons he was always spoken of as the General, and
honoured next to Lochiel himself. At the same time, he was careful to
maintain his authority and to exact the respect due to his position. He
knew well that among those lawless spirits he who would be obeyed must
be feared. On one occasion he administered a public rebuke to the
arch-thief, Keppoch, who had found time for another raid on the
Mackintoshes. In the presence of all the chiefs Dundee told the offender
that he would sooner serve in the ranks of a disciplined regiment than