446 
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
towards the house, every thing wore a neglected look, to all appearance 
intentional. 
The vignette gives a correct representation of Longwood, which is 
now but little better than a barn; the glass of the windows is broken, 
and the outward walls much disfigured. The door at which visiters 
are admitted is covered with a small latticed veranda, and leads into 
what is called the billiard-room, although it seems much too small ever 
to have been used for that purpose; its walls are covered with 
scribbling, and its general appearance is dirty and neglected. The 
next apartment is about fourteen by seventeen feet, said to have been 
used as a dining-room, and in which Napoleon died ; it is now occupied 
by a patent thrashing and winnowing machine, and was strewed with 
chaff and straw. The adjoining room had been used as a library; its 
present state was disgusting, and it seemed as if appropriated to the 
hatching of chickens. The bath, bed, and dressing-rooms, which he 
occupied at the commencement of his illness, are now in part used as a 
stable. The place in which his body lay in state, contains eight stalls, 
five of which were occupied by horses and cattle. 
If the design had been to desecrate as much as possible the habita¬ 
tion that had been occupied by the fallen Emperor, it could not have 
been more effectually accomplished; but whatever may be the motive, 
whether intentional or otherwise, it certainly redounds little to the 
credit of the British nation. The miserable condition of Longwood 
when we visited it was a subject of general animadversion. The 
money derived from the lease of the property is paid into the Queen’s 
treasury, no part of this small sum being retained to keep the building 
in repair; nor are there any conditions in the lease that compel the 
lessee to do it. It is with regret I am compelled to state that the 
lessee is a military man, and an officer in the British army. 
Longwood is bleak and exposed; the damp trade-winds sweep past 
it continually, and but few days in the year are without either mist or 
rain. The valley of Jamestown is known to be dry and healthy ; there 
are some other spots also on the island that enjoy a climate as fine as 
any on the globe. One of these might have been chosen as a residence, 
which would have proved much more congenial to the taste, and 
better suited to the constitution of the Emperor. Plantation House, for 
instance, the country-seat of the governor, enjoys, by all accounts, a 
delightful climate. 
The grounds of Longwood cannot be called pretty, but from the 
constant moisture the herbage is greener than in other parts of the 
island. There are no trees, but the shrubbery is dense around the 
gardens. The new house at Longwood is built of yellow sandstone, 
