New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-12-22

49, ---N----~ 49,
taker.
historic as St Helena undoubtedly IS. fts
,.r,e Is due TO a few isolated accidents rather
.,.n 70 its own intrinsic Importance; and its
h,sforv. here conscientiousiy collated and pre-
.ented deals with a succession OF compare
.,,,a,v trivial occurrences among which loom
,.reelv those incidents that have brought 1t into
,s-nnorary relation with the great world. And
.st these historic milestones fail somehow to as
surne their true relative value to the many hap
-or,nez. Of lesser note to outsiders. but Of es-
se,tial significance to the far away islanders.
,bat the author has faithfully recorded. The
.-o1ur,s Is not the less entertaining. however on
,bis account Had the work been undertaken by
ons with the wider vision Of a student of gen.
-o1 history we should have missed much of
cra3nt and curious interest that has naturally
end properly fallen within the field of one writ
,ng with the short perspective of an island resi-
aent The use OF St Helena as depot for res
cred Africans during the breaking up of the
7Uest Coast slave trade by Great Britain, as a
Mace Of exile for Napoleon, for the conquered
1uIu chiefs and for thousands of Boer prisoners
- vrar is dweIt upon with abundant detail put
=, Is easy TO see how the sharp and sudden snock
:, garrison rnutiny, promptly quelled; of
,,ra1v quarrel in church between an irasclple
covernor and a positive clergyman over the
sos+roved a number Of vessels, though with lit
&c loss of life, may have had almost as striking
IN anneal to the island imagination as aftalrs
~ far greater moment SO long continued IhdI
they lost the sense of novelty.
y Is ouite safe to assume that nothing that
has any real bearing the history or the ISL
and from its discovery by Juan de Nova CaStel-
Ia a Portuguese, in 1902, to the present daS'
has escaped the minute investigations OF the
author. who has interspersed her narrative Win
80, documents. quoted in full, and with much
statistical information in tabular form 0he
even extends the by no means inordinate length
- -ba volume by giving a resume OF the lie
ord achievements of Napoleon previous TO ms
Lilo IN 81 Helena where, she Loyalty mann
+oins he received from the government ne hau
s,r,ven against every necessary comfort. nay
oo,- luxury. obtainable." The author is aple 10
oonrfbute little or nothing to the story Oh MS
life and death in exile. She writes
Il is scarcely known that a little g1r ser OF
nine years of age, the a i4 hin, 1Napoleon)
Company he took great pleasure IN her frmifs and
ano te For her Shortly before he died he nuns
seid watch and chain around her neck; SAY Tth
Julia "e +13de lS graved on the Gclu1nssly
egoDggh Il IS 6ften he amused himself by giving
S4r drawing lessons from the scenery aroulu'
Yet even this trivial incident. unless memory
Is At fault, has somewhere else been noted Inc
nresent condition of the tomb where ne was
first laid away is thus described:
Tho little glen is shaded by beautiful Norfolk Norfolk
mines Expresses and frs. and the ineiose9 s
stsef is covered by large flat stone which at the
present time is run over , Win Formerly
oyerha1ging IL were two willow trees, x put tngy
naEe toE IT9xet hedge and wooden hut, or sentry
box which an attenoantt heess o4 thai fhe crave
end its surrounding are the sole freehoid properly
OF the French republic
Almost the only contribution tc Napoleoniana
mat may possibly have escaped the notlce OK
b,ographers and historians IS a communication
n the a'St Helena Gazette of May 70 ana June
q 1S49. from a writer who happened TO be
witness of the two funerals of the great httle
Corscan-in St Helena, and twenty years later
In Paris. By chance, his ship. the Free Trader
arrived az the island on the day OF Napoleon s
death, and he thus describes his impressions on
witnessing the body lying in such state" as was
accorded it:
Suddenly coming out of the glare of tropical sun
into the partially daTkened ROOM Few h9afgiIt g
Gradually as the contents OF the apartment tuiIl
hls6 i1f5 shane the person of Napoleon, dressed
N a riai1 rredn uniform grew out Of the compare
tive gloom and became the lodestar or attTac
had been With nm in most of his campaigns 1
found impossible to withdraw my eyes Iof On III
efart from his countenance. 1t caused In me d
sensation impossible define, but never TO be t2r'
tts side entered a large diamond star, the brill
iancy Of which strangely contrasted with the pila
Wilderness and looked like wax What struck me
as most strange was the mean appearance OF LIZ LIZ
ceremony. There appeared 10 be no want OF r.
spect 10 the memory of the dead, Whatever nlg NJ
have been his treatment when living. but TIC
knowledge of this die not prevent a comparlsoa5
between his fallen staC9 ana the mag t az
R RiiTe. with "ii'h '''4S '''''''' ''' W
The island Of unanimously mountainous char
scter and Astounding in beautiful scenery, was
originally tbickIv covered with trees. among
which ebony hourished so pIentifuily that 1t was
at one time used for burning lime But. owing
partly to this expensive waste and more to the
ravages Of the goat population, which had IN
creased. goatlike, with leaps and bounds, from
the first Portuguese importations, the Island is
now almost completely defOrested. Very little
land comparatively is under cultivation, scarcely
one-thirtieth OF the total area OF forty-seVen
square miles The Inhabitants, in fact appear
10 have concerned themselves very little with
agriculture st. Helena was appropriated by
the East India Company about the InlGoIe OF
the seventeenth century, making it a port of
call for their vessels and establishing gar
rlson. Before the opening Of the Suez Canal
there was much coming and going OF shipping
and the people found more profit in catering TO
the wants OF vessels and of the soldiery than
IN cultivating the land. What they did raise
vas largely Sold the thrifty islanders demand
ing high prices for their products and supplying
their own wants from the companys Stores
which were sold far below their original cost
The annual expense of the island to the East
India Company was from eighty TO ninety
thousand pounds.