ST. HELENA 225 



whole edged with a gold-coloured fringe ornament. The bedstead 

 encloses a curious mosquito-net, formed of silk weft, embossed with 

 transparent rich drapery. The dressing-room possesses the usual 

 conveniences required by taste and comfort. The adjoining bath 

 is lined with marble and so constructed that it can admit either 

 hot or cold water. 



The sets of china were selected from different manufacturers 

 throughout England : 



Among other articles ordered by the Government for Buonaparte 

 were two fowling pieces, one with double barrels and the other with 

 a single barrel, finished in the richest style, having the patent 

 lock, which is constructed upon a plan by which the guns may be 

 fired under water, in the rain and without flint, besides priming 

 themselves forty successive times. 



It is a strange coincidence that this house, the ordering 

 of which was relegated to Earl Bathurst so many years 

 since, should, during the exile or imprisonment of the Boer 

 prisoners of war here, have been occupied by the present 

 Earl and Lady Bathurst; Earl Bathurst being Lieut.- 

 Colonel of the 4th Gloster Regiment, stationed as guards 

 of the camp on Deadwood, which is contiguous to Long- 

 wood. 



Napoleon took great interest in the building of the house ; 

 still he was often heard to say he should never inhabit it. 

 When it was complete and the removal from the old house 

 expected each day, rumours circulated of his illness. His 

 unsociability was no doubt due to the existence of a 

 disease which, unsuspected by those around him, was 

 silently but surely hastening his end. 



The population had almost doubled since Buonaparte's 

 arrival and as all vessels were prohibited from calling, 

 except those belonging to the Company, the islanders found 

 they could not live as heretofore. They had been accus- 

 tomed, when vessels arrived, to take of the produce of the 

 land and barter it with the shipping for supplies of which 

 they were most in need, such as grain, salt-meat, China and 

 India produce, and surplus ships' stores, as well as stores 

 brought often specially by the captains for the purpose of 

 trading. At first this inability to obtain what they re- 

 quired caused dissatisfaction, but a reaction soon set in. 

 They found that the great increase in the population and the 

 continual advent of men-of-war more than compensated 

 them, for the squadron and the military created a larger 



p 



