486 ST. HELENA. [CHAP. xxi. 



together, were exceedingly picturesque ; and we were constantly 

 tempted to exclaim, " How pleasant it would be to pass one's 

 life in such quiet abodes !" Captain Lloyd possessed an ele- 

 phant, and he sent it half way with us, that we might enjoy a 

 ride in true Indian fashion. The circumstance which surprised 

 me most was its quite noiseless step. This elephant is the only 

 one at present on the island ; but it is said others will be sent for. 



May 9th. We sailed from Port Louis, and, calling at the 

 Cape of Good Hope, on the 8th of July we arrived off St. 

 Helena. This island, the forbidding aspect of which has been 

 so often described, rises abruptly like a huge black castle from 

 the ocean. Near the town, as if to complete nature's de- 

 fence, small forts and guns fill up every gap in the rugged 

 rocks. The town runs up a flat and narrow valley ; the houses 

 look respectable, and are interspersed with a very few green 

 trees. When approaching the anchorage there was one striking 

 view : an irregular castle perched on the summit of a lofty hill, 

 and surrounded by a few scattered fir-trees, boldly projected 

 against the sky. 



The next day I obtained lodgings within a stone's throw ot 

 iVapoleon's tomb :* it was a capital central situation, whence I 

 could make excursions in every direction. During the four 

 days I staid here, I wandered over the island from morning to 

 night, and examined its geological history. My lodgings were 

 situated at a height of about 2000 feet ; here the weather was 

 cold and boisterous, with constant showers of rain ; and every 

 now and then the whole scene was veiled in thick clouds. 



Near the coast the rough lava is quite bare : in the central 

 and higher parts, feldspathic rocks by their decomposition have 

 produced a clayey soil, which, where not covered by vegetation, 

 is stained in broad bands of many bright colours. At this 

 season, the land moistened by constant showers, produces a sin- 

 gularly bright green pasture, which lower and lower down, gra- 

 dually fades away and at last disappears. In latitude 16, and 



* After the volumes of eloquence which have poured forth on this subject 

 it is dangerous even to mention the tomb, A modern traveller, in twelva 

 tines, burdens the poor little island with the following titles, it is a grave, 

 tornb, pyramid, cemetery, sepulchre, catacomb, sarcophagus, minaret, anJ 

 mausoleum ! 



