HOME OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 305 



author of the " Hisloire dc V ImpGratricc "Josephine" 

 M. Aubenas, (to whose volume I am indebted for the 

 facts relating to the early life of Josephine,) quotes 

 entire. 



A deep bay nearly divides the island of Martinique 

 near the southern end. On its northern side, Fort 

 de France ; at its bight, La Montagne and Riviere 

 Salce ; and directly south of Fort de France is the 

 little town {-petit bourg, it is called) of Trois-Ilets 

 the Three Islets hidden from sight by a high cape. 

 I was going to hire a boat and three men to carry 

 me across the bay ; but just as we were ready to go, 

 early one morning, the rain came down in sheets, 

 and we were obliged to wait. I then learned that 

 a boat plied regularly between the town and the 

 "petit bourg, and that it was but a mile and a half to 

 " U habitation de La Pagcric" Its usual hour of 

 starting was at four, but the rain delayed it until five 

 in the afternoon. John, my. self-appointed domestic, 

 a negro with an ugly face and one white eye, had 

 safely stowed my apparatus, hunting gear, and him- 

 self, and I found with difficulty, between a couple of 

 negresses, a place for myself. There were twenty- 

 five of us, and I, as the only white man, duly felt my 

 insignificance. 



Amid a great deal of jabbering, we pushed off. 

 The boat was a long, open, flat-bottomed one, with a 

 large mast, to be shipped in the bow, with a leg-of- 

 mutton sail, and a smaller one perched right in the 

 peak. A small negro boy had charge of the latter. 

 They pulled out a bit, then shipped the mast. The 

 wind came in puffs, at times very strong, and the 

 captain at the helm was repeatedly shouting: "Gar- 

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