[wrong] ELBA, A HUNDRED YEARS AFTER 211 



few straggling flowers and a few trees, among them the laurel. I 

 plucked a branch of the laurel leaves which Napoleon so delighted 

 to see on his own brow. A railing encloses the garden at the edge of 

 the cliff and at the base, more than a hundred feet below, the sea was 

 beating in a white foam. Napoleon used to take the steep climb down 

 to bathe in the salt water. From the garden he often watched with a 

 glass the shores of Italy a dozen miles away and also the ships on that 

 unstable element which had baulked so many of his plans. 



The Mulini palace was well enough, perched on its rocky height, 

 but it gave little chance for free movement. Napoleon could not stir 

 out without being haunted by petitioners and sightseers. He planned 

 to have residences at every important point on the island. At Porto 

 Longone he made one of the existing houses his own ; at Rio he caused 

 Pons, the Director of Mines in the island, to vacate his house and go 

 elsewhere. The place, however, which he made especially his own 

 was the little villa at San Martino, three or four miles from Porto Fer- 

 raio. It was to be the St. Cloud to the urban imperial residence of 

 the Mulini. It is perhaps the most beautiful spot in the island. The 

 bay of Porto Ferraio is surrounded by a natural amphitheatre of moun- 

 tains. Napoleon found a cottage built at the point in this amphithea- 

 tre which would correspond to the spot exactly fronting the centre of 

 the stage in a theatre. The mountains curve round the bay on either 

 side and the blue waters, and Porto Ferraio in the near background and 

 the highcoast of Italy in the distance, furnish the scenery on which the 

 observer looks. The setting is perfect. Napoleon, barbarian though 

 in many respects he was, had a real eye for beauty. He bought this 

 place, and spent upon it in all about 180,000 francs. He added to the 

 house; but its two floors contain only a dozen rooms. A Russian 

 prince, who had married the daughter of Napoleon's brother Jerome, 

 acquired the property in the course of time, and built on a lower level 

 than the house a great museum for Napoleonic relics. The roof of 

 this museum has been added to the garden of Napoleon's house. The 

 objects formerly in the museum have long been scattered; the great 

 building alone remains and the whole property has passed into the 

 hands of a Florentine gentleman who is generous in allowing visitors 

 to see it. 



An avenue lined with richly laden orange trees furnished the 

 approach to the house. I found the caretaker working in a vineyard. 

 Other visitors had been there a few days earlier — some of the officers 

 of the British fleet which had made a visit to Porto Ferraio : the ter- 

 rible Briton haunts even the memorials of Napoleon! The caretaker 

 unlocked doors for me and opened windows. Here, too, Napoleon 

 built a hall, the size of a modest drawing-room in a country house. 



