The drama of Saint Helena . his orders : very often hecut off pieces of the ribands to give to them. Heinflated balloons for them, and once he contriveda tiny cart, to which, to their great joy, an unguid-able team of rats was harnessed. It always brought a smile to Napoleons counten-ance whenever he gave pleasure to the youngaround him. And the day when, not without regret himself,the Emperor was obliged to leave The Briars, theentire household was moved to tears. Beyond that place, henceforth celebrated, theLongwood road, still desolate, still suspended atthe flank of the arid, yellowish roc
The drama of Saint Helena . his orders : very often hecut off pieces of the ribands to give to them. Heinflated balloons for them, and once he contriveda tiny cart, to which, to their great joy, an unguid-able team of rats was harnessed. It always brought a smile to Napoleons counten-ance whenever he gave pleasure to the youngaround him. And the day when, not without regret himself,the Emperor was obliged to leave The Briars, theentire household was moved to tears. Beyond that place, henceforth celebrated, theLongwood road, still desolate, still suspended atthe flank of the arid, yellowish rock, became evensteeper, and after a short bend and abrupt zigzags,reached the mountain-top. There, the assistant-surgeon, Henry, and the troops making for Dead-wood camp found themselves, at a height of1200 feet, on terraced ground from whichJamestown was visible a last time. The place, inits ravine, now produced the impression of aLilliputian street at the bottom of a cutting. Itsdouble row of white houses just retained the. THE ISLAND OF EXILE 25 importance of a trail of pebbles ; the square belfryhardly rose to the level of an ordinary anchor, near the shore, a man-of-war, theConqt-ieror, which possessed a crew equal to aregiment, three decks bearing cannons, and seventy-four port-holes ready to belch forth grape-shot,assumed the harmless appearance of a toy object below was similarly reduced. Thesea, alone, rather gained in size. Subject to theusual optical illusion, its steely surface, seen fromsuch a height, rose slanting skyward—encroachedupon, completely filled the horizon. A disagreeable surprise, caused by a suddenchange of temperature, spoiled the sight. Thetraveller, who had just emerged from a stifling gully,was here exposed to the south-easterly trade-windthat prevails at Saint Helena, and now began toblow in cold blasts. He was chilled and penetratedby it, so that hardly had he ceased to perspirewhen he found himself shivering : a frequen
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectnapoleo, bookyear1910
