HOME OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 311 



ter at what is generally considered a tender age. And 

 again, Josephine is spoken of as being an only daugh- 

 ter, when the records of the parish show the registers 

 of the baptism of three and of the death of two. 



From the bourg to La Pagerie the scenery is un- 

 interesting, being only of cane-fields. About a mile 

 out we reached a narrow valley running up from the 

 sea for about three miles. In this valley once stood 

 the house in which Josephine was born, in 1763. Jut- 

 ting hills hide the site until you are close upon it, 

 when a turn in the road discloses a secluded vale, 

 and a few rods farther brings you to a low wooden 

 house with roof of tiles, old and dilapidated, with a 

 little "shingle" over the doorway, having upon it 

 the common shop-sign of the country, "Debit de la 

 Fcrme" which means that you can buy there rum 

 and salt fish in limited quantities. 



I will confess to feelings of disappointment and dis- 

 gust ; and it was with a sinking heart that I drew 

 my water-logged and mud-clogged feet toward the 

 doorway. But I was at once reassured by a sight of 

 the face of an honest man, a good-looking, intelligent 

 one, with blue eyes, and a pleasant mouth shaded by 

 a heavy gray moustache. He readily gave me per- 

 mission, and assisted me so ably that in a short time 

 I had secured four photographs of the two build- 

 ings coexistent with Josephine, and had explored the 

 rooms where she resided in youth. I was made happy 

 by learning that the house he occupied was not one 

 of the original buildings, but had been constructed 

 of materials from the house in which Josephine was 

 born, which had been destroyed by a hurricane shortly 

 after her birth. 



