310 ST. HELENA. — ST. JAMES TOWN. 



fore the little town of St. JameS:, the whole crew 

 being cheerful and healthy ; but our spirits were 

 soon clamped by the news of the death of the 

 Emperor Alexander, which we now received. 

 I must here not omit to express my most cor- 

 dial thanks to the Governor of St. Helena, for 

 his very kind reception of myself and com- 

 panions, and for his constant endeavours to make 

 our stay on the island agreeable ; he gave din- 

 ners and balls for our entertainment, and was 

 always ready to comply with our wishes; hence 

 he granted us what it is usually difficult to ob- 

 tain — permission to visit the celebrated estate 

 of Longwood, where Napoleon closed his splen- 

 did career, in powerless and desolate loneliness. 

 We rode thither one fine morning, on horse- 

 back. The little town of St. James lies in a 

 ravine between two high, steep, barren lava- 

 rocks ; its pleasant situation and cheerful as- 

 pect presenting a striking contrast with the 

 gloom of its immediate environs. By a ser- 

 pentine road cut through the rock, we climbed 

 an ascent, by nature inaccessible ; this path, in 

 some parts not three fathoms in breadth, is 

 bounded on one side by the perpendicular rock, 



