4(36 ST. HELENA. [CHAP. xxi. 



abodes!" Ciiptaiu Lloyd possessed an elephant, 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 defence, 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 of 

 Napoleon's tomb;* it was a capital central situation, whence I 

 could make excursions in every direction. During the four days I 

 stayed 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 pro- 

 duced 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 singularly 

 bright green pasture, which lower and lower down, gradually fades 

 away and at last disappears. In latitude 16, and at the trifling 

 elevation of 1500 feet, it is .surprising to behold a vegetation pos- 

 sessing a character decidedly British. The hills are crowned with 

 irregular plantations of Scotch firs; and the sloping banks are 

 thickly scattered over with thickets of gorse, covered with its 



'After the volumes of eloquence which have poured forth on this 

 subject, it is dangerous even to mention the tomb. A modern traveller, 

 in twelve lines, burdens the poor little island with the following titles, 

 it is a grave, tomb, pyramid, cemeterv, sepulchre, catacomb, sarcophagus, 

 minaret, and mausoleum ! 



