360 ST. HELENA 



Longwood is a long narrow field, interspersed with clumps 

 of firs and gumwood trees. The house in which the ex-Em- 

 peror spent the last years of his strange and varied life, the 

 stables, the fences, everything is sadly neglected, and, ere 

 another quarter of a century passes away, nothing will be left 

 of the scene but a pile of ruins. The house is built of wood, 

 and was once painted green. It has a small trellised porch 

 before the main entrance, is ascended by one or two wooden 

 steps, almost entirely overgrown with moss and grass, and the 

 sides of the building are covered with names, initials, dates, 

 and lines of poetry. Viewed externally, it appears an exten- 

 sive pile, but many of the buildings now seen on the spot 

 were not there during the life of Napoleon ; they were 

 brought from the surrounding country, where they had served, 

 for the soldiers stationed there to watch the Emperor and 

 prevent his escape. He was allowed to walk and ride at 

 almost any hour he pleased, but he could not stir without 

 being seen from some of the numerous observation-towers 

 erected on the neighboring hills. About a mile from Long- 

 wood was a large encampment of soldiers. At dusk they 

 mounted guard, and the place was surrounded by sen- 

 tinels. 



We looked into the rooms; they are small and badly 

 lighted — the wood-work much decayed — the walls scribbled 

 over, and the floors covered with dust and filth. The room in 

 which the Emperor breathed his last is occupied by a huge 

 winnowing machine, and was strewed with chaff and straw. 

 The apartment in which he laid in state after his death, is 

 now used as a stable. The library serves as a hen-house, and 

 we found it filled with chickens and turkeys. His bed-room, 

 like all the rest, is sadly dilapidated, and the window which 

 lighted it is boarded up. Taken altogether, it is a pile of 



