by steps, and is strongly guarded and fortified, the fort might be almost held to be impregnable, that is, incapable of being taken. One Captain Crawford of Jordanhill resolved, nevertheless, to make an attempt on this formidable castle.
He took advantage of a misty and moonless night to bring to the foot of the castle-rock the scaling-ladders which he had provided, choosing for his terrible experiment the place where the rock was highest, and where, of course, less pains were taken to keep a regular guard. This choice was fortunate; for the first ladder broke with the weight of the men who attempted to mount, and the noise of the fall must have betrayed them, had there been any sentinel within hearing. Crawford, assisted by a soldier who had deserted from the castle, and was acting as his guide, next scrambled up, and contrived to make fast the second ladder, by tying it to the roots of a tree, which grew about midway up the rock. Here they found a small flat surface, that held the whole party, which was, of course, very few in number. In scaling the second precipice, another accident took place: One of the party, subject to epileptic fits, was seized by one of those attacks, brought on perhaps by terror, while he was in the act of climbing up the ladder. His illness made it impossible for him either to ascend or descend. To have slain the man would have been a cruel expedient, besides that his fall from the ladder must have alarmed the garrison. Crawford caused him,
