410 CAPEOFGOODHOPE. 



towards the house, every tiling 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, 



