The Lesser Antilles 345 



recalled the fact that here was the birthplace of Marie 

 Joseph Rose de Tascher de La Pagerie, and of her first 

 husband, Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais, whose 

 father was the Governor of the island. Of that union 

 were born a son and a daughter, Eugene and Hortense. 

 Alexandre de Beauharnais was a brave soldier and a 

 statesman, twice the President of the National Assembly 

 of France. After his tragic death his widow married 

 Napoleon, and this daughter of the West Indies be- 

 came the first Empress of the French, her daughter 

 the mother of Napoleon III, her son Viceroy of 

 Italy, son-in-law of the King of Bavaria, and his 

 son the Consort of Dona Maria, Queen of Portugal. 

 They have all passed into the realm of shadows; but, 

 as we looked in at the entrance of Fort of France, 

 with its towers and houses gleaming white in the 

 sunshine above the deep purple of the sea, we could 

 not but think of the wonderful mutations which take 

 place in human lives. Little did the smiling girl w r ho 

 set sail from this beautiful harbor among the hills to be 

 wedded in France to the young man to whom she had 

 been betrothed in her childhood dream that the crown 

 of an Empress was to rest upon her head, and that she 

 was going forth to play a role in one of the mightiest 

 dramas of history. 



And now we crept a little closer to the shore. The 

 land began to rise in great folds of dazzling green. 

 Behind the hills loomed up a mountain capped with 

 clouds. We came still nearer. The top of the moun- 

 tain was desolate. Down its steep slope ran a great 

 wide gash of dull gray, spreading out like an inverted 

 fan as it approached the border of the violet sea. In 

 the lower reaches of that gray expanse stood, silent and 

 deserted, a few crumbling arches and walls, all that 



