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 damped 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, 



