Kansas City daily journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1892-1897, 1895-12-26
ST. HELENA TODAY.
How the Historic Old Island Looks Now
Napolcun's Prison.

From an Exchange.
The sailor approaching 81. Helena at
night has no lighthouse 10 guide him; no
warning to protect him from, the risk &C. of
being hurled against its forbidding cliffs;
freichted with precious cargoes, became a
prey TO the all-devouring waves. But on
the Spartan we had little. fear, for was she
not otiicered and manned by as hne a set
of fellows as you could gather from the
mercantile marine?
We were on deck at daybreak, and there
straight ahead of us lay the island, which
We We're approaching rapidly. As the bugle
call for breakfast sounded, we dropped an
chor in the harbor at jamestown, alongside
her majesty's ship 81. George, n first-class
cruiser flagship of the Cape station, which
had put in q few days before. mad oc57
eagerly awaited the arrival of the shore
boa,s, SO that | might proceed with the
work of describing for your readers the ex-
ternal features OF the island prison in which
Napoleon died and record my impressions
of the effect which so narrow a boundary
would produce upon him who had aSplred
to be master Of the whole known world.
Every schooboy knows that st: Helena
Is a rock about ten miles long py elsht
broad which rises abruptly from the south
Atlantic, 2j0 miles from the nearest land.
The island presents a most uninVitinG ap-
pearance Gaunt looking cliffs, without u
the water, make It impossible to land, eN-
cept where, as at James town, Geep gorge
cuts down to the waters edge, Across the
entrance TO each OF these guilies stretches
a fort bearing testimony TO the fear. all
ways present during the captivity of Ma
poleon, that an organzed attempt would
10. made TO effect his escape. Even at
jamestown the landing place Is very prim-
iuyo, There are no steps leading rom me the
1, a heavy swell all communication with
the shore Is cut Off When the boat was
rOWed alongside we had to wait for n ia
vorable opportunity, and then make a jump
for II.
jamestown practically consists of one
long street, which stretches inland along
tht. bottom of the valley for some TWO
miles or soI the cliffs on either side rising
too abruptly TO permit OF much eXpanfSion on
about 5000 and consists for the most part
of blacks there being but few Europeans
outside the garrison of about 200 men, The
number Of people has decreased rapidly on
account OF the great falling off in trade.
Years ago, before the opening Of the eI SGez
flourishing islands in the world,
shipping filled the harbor: boats sour
ried 10 and from the shore: fresh supplies
now chahged. The suez canal has divert
and those now on the island can but bare
Is eke out an existence, Many Of the ma
the rest, more especially the older people
who can remember the good ola DAYS
never ] ee2se to eomP'@5n @ OF tGsir yrY %t n,o,n
building, with no pretense to arehitectural
beauty. But it is not without interest. The
tablets on the walls around bear the names
Of many n well known Indian hero Who
covered with wounds or stricken with dis
ease in the service of his country, had en-
barked with the hope of ending his days in
peace in the land Of his birth, only to
leave his bones in this far-away spot
There were no steamers in those days, and
the exhaustion consequent upon the long
voyage. through the tropics had been too
much for their wasted forms
OF course the great attraction at St.
Helena is Longwood, the house where Ma
poleon spent the greater part OF his cap
tvity and where he expired six years
after his arrival in the island, Longwood
is about six miles from jamestown, the
road winding up the valley, over the
mountains, into the plateau beyond. Stu
ated in the center Of this Is the house. 1t
is a long, low building OF the usual bunga-
low type, with a yerandah in front, very
much after the style OF the Dutch farm
houses at the Cape, and probably built by
q Dutch farmer IN the days when the
grounds cover altogether about ten acres.
1t was on the gravel paths running
through the shrubbery Immediately join
ing the house that Napoleon took most of
his exercise, and many graphic account
down, his head benz forward in the well
known attitude, WHILE at a respectful dis
tance, his attendants watched anXiously
for some sign OF his mood before ventur-
property of the Empress Eugenie, having
been presented to her by the English gov
ernment, a French otlicer is in charge,
and he and his daughters are most polite
showing them over the house and point,
ing out the various rooms occupied BY the
emperor. Close by is a smaller dwelling
which was used as a residence by those
not be dissuaded from sharing the exile of
their beloved master and who continued
10 treat him with all the ceremony due TO
an emperor.