The Sun.
London, England, 1826-06-03 00:00:00

CAPTAIN MAITLAND'S NARRATIVE.

Captain Maitland, the commander of the Bellero-
phon, the ship which first received Buonaparte after
his flight from France, has published a curious narra-
tire of all that passed on board his ship on that occa-
sion. At present we have only room for the follow.
ing portrait of Buonaparte

"Napoleon Buonaparte, when he came on board the Belle-
rophon, on the 15th of July, 1815, wanted exactly one month of
completing his forty-sixth year, being born the 15th of August,
1769. He was then a remarkably strong, well-built man,
about five feet seven inches high, his limbs particularly well-
formed, with a fine ancle and very small foot, of which hi
seemed rather vain, as he always wore, while on board the ship,
silk stockings and shoes. His hands were also very small,
and had the plumpness of a woman's rather than the robust-
ness of a man's. His eyes light gray, teeth good ; and when
he smiled, the 'expression of his Countenance was highly pleas-
ing; when under the. influence ,of disappointment, however,
it assumed a dark gloomy cast His hair was of a very dark
brown, nearly approaching to black, and though a little thin
on the top and front, had not a, gray hair amongst it. His
complexion was a very uncommon one, being of a light salloW
colour, differing from almost any other I ever met with. From
hie having become .corpulent, he had lost much of his per-
sonal activity, and, if we are to give credit to those who at-
tended him, a very considerable portion of hie mental energy
was also gone. It is certain his habits were very lethargic while
he was on board the Bellerophon, for though he went to bed
between eight and nine o'clock in the evening, and did not rise
till about the same bout• in the morning, he frequently fell asleep
on the sofa in the cabin in the course of the day. His general
appearance was that of a man rather older than he then was.
His manners were extremely pleasing and affable ; he joined in
every conversation, related numerous anecdfites, and endeavour-
ed in every way to promote good humour; he even admit-
ted his attendants to great familiarity, and I saw one or two
instances of their contradicting him in the most direct terms,
though they generally treated him with much respect. He
possessed, to a wonderful degree, a facility in making a fa-
vourable impression upon those with whom he entered into
conversation : this appeared to me to be accomplished by
turning the subject to matters he supposed the person he was
addressing was well acquainted with, and on which he could
show himself to advantage. This had the effect of putting him in
good humour with himself; after which it was not a very difficslt
matter to treader a part of that feeling to the person who had oc-
casioned it. Lord Keith appears to have formed a very high
opinion of the fascination of his conversation, and expressed it
very emphatically to me, after he had seen him. Speaking of
his wish for an interview with the Prince Regent, D—n the
fellow,' he said, ' if he had obtained an interview with his Royal
Highness, in half an hour they would have been the beet friends in
England.' He appeared to have great command of temper, for
though no man could have greater trials than fell to his lot dur-
ing the time he remained on board the Bellerophon, he never, in
my presence, or as far as I know, allowed a fretful or captious
expression to escape him. Even the day he received the notifica-
tion from Sir Henry Bunhury, that it was determined to send
him to St. Helena, he chatted and conversed with the same
cheerfulness as usual. It has been asserted that he was acting a
part all the time he was on board the ship; but still, even allow-
ing that to be the case, nothing but great command of temper
could have enabled him to have sustained such a part for so many
days, in his situation."