486 ST. HELENA. [cuap. xx1. 
together, were exceedingly picturesque ; and we were constantly 
tempted to exclaim, ‘“ How pleasant it would be to pass one’s 
life in such quiet abodes!” Captain Lloyd possessed an ele- 
phant, and he sent it half way with us, that we might enjoya 
ride in true Indian fashion. The circumstance which surprised 
me most was its quite noiseless step. This elephant is the only 
one af 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 thé town, as if to complete nature’s de- 
fence, 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 
Wapoleon’s tomb :* it was a capital central situation, whence I 
could make excursions in every direction. During the four 
days I staid 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 
produced 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 sin- 
gularly bright green pasture, which lower and lower down, gra- 
dually fades away and at last disappears. In latitude 16°, and 
__* 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, cemetery, sepulchre, catacomb, sarcophagus, minaret, ani 
- mausoleum | 
