226 BAZAINE. 



It is said that after the Revocation of the Edict of 

 Nantes by Louis Xl\', Protestant ministers also had 

 languished in this prison. Napoleon I, on the other hand, 

 imprisoned a Roman Catholic priest here — de Broq-lie, 

 Bishop of Ghent. Then there were less distinguished pri- 

 soners, such as Mamalukes. But the imprisonment 

 of Bazaine again attracted universal attention to Ste. 

 Marguerite. Bazaine succeeded in escaping. His wife, 

 a ^"Oung Mexican, and his former Adjutant Villette 

 who had accompanied him to Ste. Marguerite, aided his 

 flight. It is said that he let himself down b-\' a rope to 

 the rocks and waited for his wile in tattered clothes, \\ ith 

 wounded hands and blood-stained face. He was then ob- 

 liged to cast himself into the sea and s\A'im to the boat 

 which had come to fetch him, as the stormA' waves pre- 

 vented its landing. But it is quite certain that this 

 was a fable, deliberateh' invented to conceal the truth. It 

 ■seems probable that secret orders were given to let 

 Bazaine escape, in ^vhich case his wife would be sure 

 to meet him. 



It \A'as as calm as a lake near these rocks today, and 

 we landed \A-ith ease on the ston\- shore. The Fortress 

 itself is hardh' worth a visit, unless vou wish to be edi- 

 fied b\ the extraordinar\ thickness oP the walls, and the 

 triple grating to the u-indows in the prison rooms. Sol- 

 diers invalided home from Algiers and the more distant 

 colonies, are no\v lodged in the Fortress. From the terrace 

 thev can enjoy a distant prospect of o^'erwhelming gran- 

 deur, but thev seem to prefer to sleep the da\' away in 

 the Pine woods close b\'. 



