HOME OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 311 
ter at what is generally considered a tender age. And 
again, Josephine is spoken of as being dn on/y daugh- 
ter, when the records of the parish show the registers 
of the baptism of three and of the death of two. 
From the bourg to La Pagerie the scenery is un- 
interesting, being only of cane-fields. About a mile 
out we reached a narrow valley running up from the 
sea for about three miles. In this valley once stood 
the house in which Josephine was born, in 1763. Jut- 
ting hills hide the site until you are close upon it, 
when a turn in the road discloses a secluded vale, 
and a few rods farther brings you to a low wooden 
house with roof of tiles, old and dilapidated, with a 
little “shingle” over the doorway, having upon it 
the common shop-sign of the country, “Ded:t de la 
ferme,” which means that you can buy there rum 
-and salt fish in limited quantities. 
I will confess to feelings of disappointment and dis- 
gust; and it was with a sinking heart that I drew 
my water-logged and mud-clogged feet toward the 
doorway. But I was at once reassured by a sight of 
the face of an honest man, a good-looking, intelligent 
one, with blue eyes, and a pleasant mouth shaded by 
a heavy gray moustache. He readily gave me per- 
mission, and assisted me so ably that in a short time 
I had secured four photographs of the two build- 
ings coexistent with Josephine, and had explored the 
rooms where she resided in youth. I was made happy 
by learning that the house he occupied was not one 
of the original buildings, but had been constructed 
of materials from the house in which Josephine was 
born, which had been destroyed by a hurricane shortly 
after her birth. 
