RESIDENCE OF NAPOLEON. 315 



jesty." On quitting the garden scenery of the 

 pretty little valley, the country resumed its 

 dreary and sterile character. A ride of about 

 a German mile through this inhospitable re- 

 gion, uncheered either by the fragrance of 

 flowers or the melody of birds, brought us 

 within sight of an inconsiderable level, or table 

 land, perfectly barren, crowning the summit of 

 one of the highest hillocks into which this huge 

 rock is divided. In the centre of the plain, and 

 enveloped in so thick a fog that it was scarcely 

 perceptible, stood a small unpretending man- 

 sion. " That,"' said our guide, " is Longwood, 

 late the residence of Napoleon." We soon 

 reached the house, expecting to find it as left 

 at the death of its illustrious occupant ; with 

 how much interest should we not have visited 

 it, if nothing had been changed or removed ! 

 But the English authorities had not taken our 

 gratification into their consideration. The 

 house is divided into two distinct portions; 

 the smaller half, or Napoleon's sleeping apart- 

 ment, has been converted into a stable, and the 

 larger into a warehouse for sheep-skins, fat, and 

 other produce of the island: 

 p 2 



