HELENA, St, an island in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Southern Africa. It belongs to no group of islands, but stands entirely alone in the ocean, about twelve hundred miles from larid. To the sea it presents, throughout its whole circumference, which is twenty-eight miles, only an immense wall of perpendicular rock, from 600 to 1200 feet in height. Its general aspect is bleak and dreary, but on passing through the wall of rock by one of the few openings which nature has left, the scene is agreeably changed. Verdant and even beautiful patches of ground are interspersed amongst the rocks; and on the summit is a fertile plain, consisting of about 1500 acres, covered with grass, and capable of every species of cultivation. The loftiest eminence is called Diana’s Peak. It is situated nearly in the centre of the island, and rises to the height of 2700 feet above the level of the sea. In this, as in most of the African islands, the rocks consist chiefly of basalt. Limestone of the best quality is also abundant, and various kinds of volcanic rocks are scattered about the island in considerable quantities. There are only four small openings in the rock, which, like a natural bulwark, surrounds St Helena; and on the largest of these, where alone a little beach appears, James Town has been built. It is entered by an arched gateway, within which is a handsome parade, about one hundred feet square. Here are the governmenthouse and the main guard-room. Within the former is the residence of the governor and the public officers. The principal street in James Town contains about thirty houses, most of which are neat and well built. The number of English families upon the island amounts to between two and three hundred. St Helena is chiefly of importance as a place of refreshment for vessels returning from the East Indies. There is abundance of excellent water, and fresh provisions can be obtained here, though they are neither so plentiful nor so cheap as those of the Cape of Good Hope.

St Helena was first discovered by the Portuguese in 1502, on St Helena’s day; whence its name. They stocked it with different kinds of useful animals; but whether they ever settled a colony on it or not is uncertain. The Portuguese having either abandoned or never taken possession of it, the Dutch became its masters, and kept possession of it till the year 1600, when they were driven out by the English. In 1673 the Dutch retook it by surprise; but a short time afterwards it was recovered by the brave Captain Munden, who also took three Dutch East Indiamen then lying in the harbour. On this occasion the Hollanders had fortified the landing place, of which there is only one on the island, and erected batteries of great guns to prevent a descent; but the English having knowledge of a small creek, where only two men abreast could creep up, climbed to the top of the rock in the night, and appearing the next morning behind the batteries, the Dutch were so terrified that they threw down their arms, and surrendered at discretion. This creek has since been fortified, and a battery of large cannon placed at the entrance; so that now the island is rendered perfectly secure against all regular approaches or sudden attacks.

St Helena has acquired no small celebrity as the place of confinement of Napoleon Bonaparte, ex-emperor of France. The illustrious exile arrived there on the 17th of October 1815, and remained in the island till his death, on the 5th of May 1821. He was buried in a retired spot not far from Longwood, the place of his residence. Long. 5. 43. W. Lat. 15. 55. S.

Helena, the daughter of Leda (wife of Tyndareus, [7:11:211] king of Sparta), and of Jupiter, who, being changed into a swan, had obtained the favours of the queen. In consequence of this amour she produced two eggs, from one of which sprang Castor and Clytemnestra (both mortal, as being children of Tyndareus), and from the other Pollux and Helena, who were considered immortal, as the offspring of Jupiter. (Clement. Alex. Cohort, p. 26; Pind. Nem. X. 150.)

From her infancy she possessed that dazzling beauty which became in the course of time so fatal to her admirers. About the age of ten she was carried off by Theseus, who concealed her at Aphidnae, in Attica, under the protection of his mother Aethra. (Plut. Thes. 31; Hygin. 79.) She was rescued by her brothers, Castor and Pollux, who discovered her place of concealment by means of Academus. They carried off at the same time Aethra, who henceforth remained the captive slave of Helen. (Paus. X. 25.) This adventure did not prevent her from being sought in marriage by all the young princes of Greece. The most celebrated of her suitors were Menelaus, Diomede, Philoctetes, Idomeneus, Merione, Amphilochus, Patroclus, the two Ajaxes, Teucer, Antilochus, Ulysses, with others to the number of thirty. Her father, Tyndareus, was alarmed at the number of her suitors, believing that the preference he showed to one would bring on him the displeasure of all the rest. He was relieved from this dilemma by Ulysses, on condition he should receive the hand of his niece Penelope in marriage. His advice was to bind all the princes by an oath that they would yield implicitly to the will of the princess, and that they would unite to defend her if any attempt should be made to carry her off from the arms of her husband. The rivals consented, and Helen decided in favour of Menelaus, who thus became the heir apparent, and soon afterwards possessor, of the throne of Sparta. By her he had a daughter Hermione, and two sons, Morrhaphius and Diethus. (óc/zoZ. II. Γ. 175; Od. Δ. 12; Apollodor. iii. 10, 7.)

Venus had promised to Paris the possession of the most beautiful of women. At her instigation, he proceeded to Sparta during the absence of Menelaus, and succeeded in gaining the affections of Helen, and in inducing her to quit her husband and her country. It was in vain that Menelaus sent to Troy to demand back his wife, in vain that the sons of Atreus threatened that all Greece would march against Troy. During the celebrated Trojan war she remained faithful to Paris, and had by him Bunichus, Agane, Idaeus, and Corythus. On the death of Paris she married Deiphobus, the bravest of the sons of Priam after Hector; and on the taking of Troy, she is said to have betrayed him in order that she might ingratiate herself with Menelaus. It appears that Menelaus forgave her, and that they proceeded on their way to Sparta, where, according to some, they did not arrive till the space of eight years had elapsed. Here they received the visit of Telemachus, who had been sent by his mother in search of his father Ulysses. And here the legend of Homer ends. According to Euripides, she was killed by Orestes, her son-in-law, or she was banished by her step-sons, Megapenthes and Ni-costratus, when she retired to the island of Rhodes, where she was suffocated in a bath. {Paus. iii. 19.)

According to one tradition, Helen never visited Troy, but was detained in Egypt by King Proteus during the whole period of the siege. Here Menelaus being driven on shore by a storm, found her. (Herodot. ii. 112, et seqq.} She had a temple at Therapne (vi. 61).