262 A JACOBITE EXILE

plundered it, burning the little town of Valk, murdering
its inhabitants, and carrying off into slavery the whole of
the population who fell into their hands. ‘The arrival of
the three regiments was hailed with much satisfaction by the
people of Revel, who feared that the Russians might besiege
the town. ‘They did not, however, approach within many
miles, but after completely wasting the country retired
across the frontier.

The victory that had been gained over the Swedes at
Embach, and the destruction of the greater part of General
Schlippenbach’s force, enabled the czar to turn his arms
against Ingria, the extreme eastern province of Sweden,
which included the shores of Lake Ladoga and the whole
of the coast of the Baltic between Narva and Finland.
Urgent messages were sent by the governor of that province
to General Schlippenbach requesting him to send him aid,
as he had not even sufficient men to garrison the walled
towns. ‘lhe general was, however, afraid that Narva would
be again besieged, and he therefore dared not reduce his
small force to any considerable degree, but drew one com-
pany from each of the three regiments, and embarked them
on board a ship for the mouth of the Neva. As there
seemed little prospect of service for a time near Revel, all
the officers were eager that their company should be chosen
for the service in Ingria. Colonel Jamieson therefore said,
“I do not wish to choose one company more than another;
all can equally be depended upon. Therefore, I think the
fairest way will be to draw lots as to which shall go.”

The lot fell upon Charlie’s company, which therefore
formed part of the expedition. On reaching the mouth of
the Neva they heard that the town of Notteburg, situated
at the point where the Neva issues from the lake, was
already besieged by the Russians, and that the Swedish
vessels on the lake had been obliged to come down the
river. A fort had been raised by the Russians on the bank