GRAVE OF NAPOLEON. 313 



boundaries of the circle within which alone the 

 renowned prisoner was permitted to move, the 

 less pleasant became the country and the more 

 raw the climate, till about a German mile from 

 the town we found ourselves on the barren spot 

 I have already described. Here a narrow path 

 leads down an abrupt descent into a small 

 valley, or basin, surrounded by hills, sheltered 

 from the wind, and offering in its verdant 

 foliage and cheerful vegetation, a refreshing 

 and agreeable retreat. " There rest the remains 

 of Napoleon," said the guide given us by the 

 governor. We dismounted, and proceeded to 

 the grave on foot. An old invalid who watches 

 it, and lives in a lonely hut in its vicinity, now 

 came towards us, and conducted us to a flat, 

 tasteless grave-stone surrounded by an iron 

 railing, and shaded by fine willows, planted 

 probably by the last dependents of the unfor- 

 tunate prisoner. It is a melancholy thing to 

 tread this simple grave of him who once shook 

 all Europe with his name, and here at last 

 closed his too eventful life on a lonely rock in a 

 distant ocean. The stone bears no inscription, 

 but all who behold it may imagine one. Poste- 

 VOL. II. p 



