NAPOLEON'S CHARIOT. 19 



The exterior of this ingenious vehicle is of the form and 

 dimensions of our large English travelling chariot, except 

 that it has a projection in front of about two feet, the 

 right-hand half of which is open to the inside to receive 

 the feet, thus forming a bed, while the left-hand half 

 contained a store of various useful things. 



Beyond the projection in front, and nearer to the 

 horses, was the seat for the coachman, ingeniously con- 

 trived so as to prevent the driver from viewing the 

 interior of the carriage, and yet so placed as to afford 

 those within a clear sight of the horses and of the sur- 

 rounding country. Beneath this seat is a receptacle for 

 a box about two and a half feet in length and four inches 

 deep, containing a bedstead of polished steel, which 

 could be fitted up in a couple of minutes. 



Over the front windows is a roller blind of strong 

 painted canvas, which when pulled out excluded rain 

 while it admitted air. (This might be an advantageous 

 appendage to all carriages.) 



On the ceiling of the carriage is a network for carry- 

 ing small travelling requisites. In a recess there was a 

 secretaire, ten inches by eighteen, which contained nearly 

 a hundred articles presented to Napoleon I. by Maria 

 Louisa, under whose care it was fitted up with every 

 luxury and convenience that could be imagined. It 

 contained besides the usual requisites for a dressing 

 box, most of which were of solid gold — a magnificent 

 breakfast service with plates, candlesticks, knives, forks, 

 spoons, a spirit lamp for making breakfast in the carriage, 

 gold case for Napoleon's gold wash-hand basin, a number 



c 2 



