St. Helena, ‘Cursed Rock’ of Napoleon’s Exile - The New York Times The New York Times Travel |St. Helena, ‘Cursed Rock’ of Napoleon’s Exile Search St. Helena, ‘Cursed Rock’ of Napoleon’s Exile ANTHONY MANCINI Continue reading the main story Photo Jamestown, the capital of rugged and remote St. Helena island, a British protectorate in the South Atlantic, where Napoleon arrived in 1815 to serve out his exile. He died there in 1821 at age 51. Credit Kent Kobersteen/National Geographic Society—Corbis I STOOD on the aft deck of the 128-passenger Royal Mail Ship St. Helena in the gloom of a predawn morning last fall, my eyes riveted to an island that seemed to rise from the scalloped sea, a ruined cathedral of volcanic rock shrouded in mist. It was a steep natural fortress augmented by man-made battlements, bristling with rusty cannons that commanded the far reaches of the surrounding ocean. As the sun rose, its palette morphed from black to slate to tawny.

After a five-day sail and one day in the port of Cape Town because of engine trouble, we had reached our destination, St. Helena island. This basalt outcropping of land in the South Atlantic, surrounded by thousands of miles of water and not much else, was where, after years of searching the haunted houses of history and literature for Napoleon ’s ghost, I would finally find him. It was on this remote island that the deposed emperor was exiled and died. Napoleon arrived in St. Helena, a British protectorate, nearly 200 years ago aboard the puddle-filled planks of the HMS Northumberland, after having been captured by the allied powers. British authorities wrote Napoleon that he would be confined there to prevent him “from disturbing the repose of Europe.” His enemies had chosen well. Then as now, the island of St.

Helena (the Saints, as the Islanders immodestly call themselves, pronounce it Sint huh-LEE-nuh) is one of the most inaccessible and forbidding-looking places on Earth, reachable only by the mail ship, which travels there once a month from Cape Town, or by private yacht (though in 2015, an airport is scheduled to open). The island, with a population of roughly 3,500, occupies 47 square miles and sits some 1,200 miles from the coast of Angola and 1,800 miles from Brazil. The nearest land is Ascension Island, 703 miles north, which is also a British territory serving as an R.A.F. and United States air base. The moonscape appearance as we approached by sea belied the surprisingly green hills and valleys of the interior. It is a land of contrasts and contradictions, the black rocks of Sandy Bay in the south clashing with the green meadows of nearby Mount Pleasant; the tropic sun of Deadwood Plain tempered by the shady arbors of Geranium Valley.

Continue reading the main story Still, not many tourists make the journey, which on the mail ship offers few frills: two lounges, sunbathing decks, a formal dining room and swimming pool not much bigger than a kiddie pool. At the final destination, there are no sandy beaches, five-star hotels, renowned chefs or nightclubs filled with celebrities. There are also no A.T.M.’s, businesses that accept credit cards, or cellphone towers. And the island, long a dependency of Britain , lacks a vital local economy. Its main economic driver is the British bureaucracy. So most of the people who sailed with me, apart from a few adventurers and many Saints returning for a visit or permanently, had a special reason to visit. I was traveling with my wife, Maria, to continue research into the life of Napoleon Bonaparte for a novel. I had visited many other places connected with his history, including his birthplace, Ajaccio, Corsica, and his resting place, Les Invalides in Paris. The trip to St. Helena would bring me into intimate contact with his last years, allowing me to walk the same worn floorboards as he did, follow the paths he traveled and more easily summon his spirit.

Advertisement Continue reading the main story We anchored off the coast, in Jamestown Bay, and were ferried in tenders from the boat to the wharf steps. We entered Jamestown, which becomes an anthill of activity when the ship docks. The stone archway leading to the main square dates from 1832 and is embossed with the coat of arms of the British East India Company, which ruled the island for a time, and an image of the wirebird , an indigenous and endangered species. The Georgian and Regency buildings would transport you to the 19th century were it not for the cars that clogged the cobbled streets. We stayed at the Consulate Hotel , an 18th-century building in the heart of town, fronted by trellised verandas, filled with antiques and Napoleonic relics, and ably run by Hazel Wilmot, who broods over her guests like a peahen. The hotel, restaurant and bar serve as popular meeting places for locals who trade gossip over mugs of South African beer. It is also one of only three Wi-Fi hot spots in town. Napoleon’s trail was easy to pick up.

The angle is heavily played, forming the biggest pitch in all the tourism brochures for the island. To follow his path, we relied on one expert and also hired local drivers, who spring into action when the ship arrives. One, Colin Corker, ferried us around in a Charabanc, a 1929 open-air Chevy bus, along the hairpins and steep ascents of many of the island’s 68 miles of single-lane roads. The three main Napoleonic sites — the Briars, Longwood and Napoleon’s Tomb — stand under the fluttering tricolor flag. Queen Victoria transferred Longwood Old House, the surrounding gardens and the land around the Tomb in Geranium Valley to French rule in 1858. Napoleon’s first home on the island was the Briars, where he spent a few brief weeks while his permanent residence at Longwood was being refurbished. It was deeded to France in 1959 by Dame Mabel Brooks, an Australian descendant of the Balcombe family.

Betsy Balcombe was a teenager who delighted the emperor with her pranks and unceremonious attitude during his short stay at the pavilion on the estate of William Balcombe, purveyor of the East India Company. The pavilion lies in a shady spot surrounded by gardens where one could easily imagine Napoleon’s enchantment. The small one-room house has been restored to its original neo-Classical style, with imperial green walls and period furniture. Photo Napoleon, by Edmond Mennechet, left, and Napoleon’s death mask at Longwood House, where he lived in exile. He was buried on the island, but his body was later returned to Paris and buried at Les Invalides Credit Stefano Bianchetti/Corbis, Kent Kobersteen/National Geographic Society — Corbis We made a stop at the Doveton House in Mount Pleasant, where Napoleon shared his Champagne and food with the family of William Doveton, a member of the town council (whose daughter the emperor called “the prettiest girl on the island”). There we imitated Napoleon and his retinue by lunching on the lawn overlooking Sandy Bay.

A short ride from the Briars brings visitors to Longwood House where, in his own words, the great ruler wore his “crown of thorns” and ultimately died on May 5, 1821, at age 51. Today the place looks nice, newly painted and restored, surrounded by trees and shrubbery. The interiors are fresh and clean after an international fund-raising effort by the French Consul. But when Napoleon and his retinue arrived, they found it a great disappointment. It lay on an arid and damp plateau 1,800 feet above sea level, open to the buffeting trade winds and often blanketed with mist. The Emperor’s Grand Marshal Count Bertrand described the place as “a few dark rooms with low ceilings,” a far cry from the palaces of the Élysée and Tuileries of Napoleon’s glory days. Contemporary accounts paint the domicile, which Napoleon shared with his courtiers, their families, several servants, his doctor and the British orderly officer assigned to observe him, as a damp and cheerless place crawling with mold and festooned with cobwebs that his servants camouflaged by hanging fabric and paper on the walls and ceilings.

And, of course, there were the rats and other pests scurrying under the floorboards. Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up Privacy Policy Here it is easier to imagine Napoleon’s last days. A visitor can stand on the latticed front porch and gaze past the jagged rocks of Flagstaff Hill and the Barn peak at the limitless ocean, imagining the emperor doing the same as he scans the horizon for passing ships and bemoans his exile on “questa piedra maladetta — this cursed rock.” There are about 30 small rooms and a courtyard at the house. We entered the anteroom, which is large and bright and contains the original billiard table over which Napoleon used to spread his maps as he dictated his memoirs and relived his missteps at Waterloo. One can also see the holes that Napoleon had cut into the window shutters so that he could use a telescope to watch unobserved activity in the garden or his detested overseer approaching the house. The drawing room contains no original items but it has a replica of the camp bed where Napoleon died, placed close to the wall between two windows.

(The original is in Les Invalides.) Because Napoleon was an insomniac, he had his servants place one camp bed in his bedroom and another in the adjoining study as he would move around in the night like a somnambulist, dictating, reading, snacking and catnapping. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Past the main salon lies a small dining room where Napoleon and his threadbare court attended formal dinners served on fine Sèvres porcelain by butlers in livery, as elegant silverware glittered in the candlelight. These trappings lent the proceedings a comic opera quality. More poignant still are the portraits of the empresses Josephine and Maria Louisa on the walls, and on the fireplace mantel the bust of the so-called King of Rome, Napoleon’s legitimate son. After the second abdication Napoleon was not allowed to see his family again, a loss he sorely felt. Our driver later took us down the road to Napoleon’s first tomb, in Geranium Valley, overlooking a ravine known as the Devil’s Punch Bowl. It is a lovely flowered place in a windless hollow shaded by towering Norfolk pines where Napoleon liked to go to picnic.

Geranium Valley was his second choice as a burial site, and visitors still go there to view the rectangular fenced grave site under the trees. The willows that once grew there have been stripped away as souvenirs. In 1840, 19 years after Napoleon’s death, when the political climate in France had changed, the coffin was unearthed and the well-preserved corpse sent back to France. His remains lie where he wanted them to, not far from the banks of the Seine. During his meteoric rise and reign, Napoleon basked in triumph and achievement. Visiting the scenes of his slow demise helped to humanize him for me. It was here that the marble statue became a man. As we set off for our voyage back to Cape Town, we saw something that Napoleon never saw — the ghostly crags of St. Helena receding into the horizon. A version of this article appears in print on April 1, 2012, on Page TR4 of the New York edition with the headline: St. Helena, ‘Cursed Rock’ of Napoleon’s Exile.

Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe BBC - Travel - The island ready to welcome the world Africa The island ready to welcome the world For more than 500 years, the only way to reach the remote South Atlantic island of Saint Helena was by sea. That is about to change. By Diane Selkirk 18 May 2016 For more than 500 years, the only way to reach the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena was by sea. Travelling to the South Atlantic island by sailboat, after a nine-day voyage from Namibia, my family and I made landfall the way every person before us has: the way Napoleon Bonaparte did when he was sent into exile in 1815; the way modern-day Saints (as the local population is known) do when they venture home from work in the UK; and the way the occasional, intrepid visitor has always done. But we were one of the last travellers to do so. In April, the first commercial plane landed at the island’s new airport , and the last working Royal Mail Ship, the St Helena, was slated for decommissioning.

A dwindling population and defiant island geology – which, as Charles Darwin put it, “rises abruptly like a huge black castle from the ocean” – were long-time barriers to the development of an airport. But fears that the island could become nothing more than a remote old age home as younger Saints look elsewhere for employment finally forced the issue. Planned weekly flights will replace the monthly ship visits, and tourism is projected to take off. Now, for the first time, visitors won’t risk being doused in the Atlantic swell when they reach for the ropes at the sea-washed Jamestown landing, trying to time their first step onto solid ground. I, however, had expected the ropes at the landing – and even the strong arms of the Saints as they pulled me away from the swirling sea. I knew that the capital of Jamestown would be a crayon-coloured English village wedged improbably into a volcanic cleft on a tropical island. I’d read that Napoleon Bonaparte had been the island’s most famous prisoner. View image of St. Helena is located in the South Atlantic Ocean (Credit: Credit: Gillian Moore/Alamy) But knowing of a place and knowing a place are different things.

Of all the islands I’ve visited, Saint Helena is the most wonderful and strange. Caught somewhere between today and a time that may never have existed, St Helena has a retirement home for donkeys who have been replaced by cars; it only got mobile phone service a few months ago; it has a tiny bit of France (literally) in its lush interior; and it’s home to an estimated 187-year-old giant tortoise called Jonathon who, I was told, was just given his first wish. “What do you think a tortoise wishes for?” my daughter Maia asked me, after our guide Robert Peters told us about Jonathon. I had no idea, especially when Peters added: “Some say he already had a wish, so this might really be his second.” View image of In April, the first commercial plane landed in St. Helena (Credit: Credit: Diane Selkirk/Evan Gatehouse) We found Jonathon (along with the much younger David, Emma, Myrtle and Fredrika) on the lawn of the governor’s residence, Plantation House .

Set in the rugged island’s surprisingly bucolic interior – which appears transplanted in its entirety, complete with charming parish churches, from the English countryside – Plantation House and Jonathon are just two of the 162-square-mile island’s eclectic highlights . Did you know? Jacob’s Ladder consists of 699 steps and climbs 600ft over Jamestown. The steep stairway began life as an inclined-plane cableway in 1829 and was converted to stairs in 1871. School children used to slide down the ladder’s railings in their rush to get home. The coffee grown on St Helena is the same brew that Napoleon drank. Introduced from Yemen in 1732, it’s available at Harrods in London and in the St Helena Coffee Shop. Some of the world’s largest concentrations of whale sharks are found around Saint Helena from November through March. As many as 35 individuals are found in a grouping and swimming with them is permitted with an approved guide.

(Photo Credit: Ashley Toone/Alamy) Others include spectacular hiking and diving, Edmond Halley’s 1677 observatory, a quarantine station and refugee camp for freed slaves, former Boer concentration camps, a smidgen of native jungle which was once catalogued by Charles Darwin, and – most oddly – 14 hectares of French territory that’s under the administration of the French Foreign Ministry, which includes Napoleon’s estate of Longwood House and the Valley of the Tomb, where he was originally interred before his body was returned to France. There’s also the Bellstone, a popular curiosity during Saint Helena’s original tourism boom, before the Suez Canal opened, when more than 1,000 ships called each year. At first glance, the Bellstone appeared to be a normal boulder – until struck with a rock. The melodious sound that followed made me want to whack every boulder I could find, just in case others sound like bells and no one but a Saint had ever thought to check. One legend says the ringer of the Bellstone is granted a wish. I wondered if Jonathon’s own wish was related to the Bellstone, and made a mental note to ask Peters.

I spent the rest of the day exploring the island with Peters. Saint Helena is a place of improbable beauty: there are hiking trails cutting through multi-hued volcanic hills, old stone fortifications perched over bright blue seas, huge whale sharks in warm, gin-clear water and great granite spires rising out of pasture land. View image of Jonathon the giant tortoise is an estimated 187 years old (Credit: Credit: Diane Selkirk/Evan Gatehouse) It takes a while to adjust to the easy friendliness here. Smiles are ever present, introductions flow freely and car keys are left in unlocked cars, just in case. There’s also an old-world virtuousness that we took an almost comic delight in. The biggest crime that occurred during our visit was theft of a car mirror by a hairpin turn. We also heard some “rough boys” offended local sensibility when they didn’t wave at passing cars while driving down Ladder Hill. Greeting others is more than good manners here – it’s an inborn reflex. However, much of my time was spent deciphering what a local friend assured me was a “proper Saint’s accent”.

A linguistic mash-up of diverse cultures and histories – which began with the island’s Portuguese discoverers and includes African slaves, Europeans, British settlers, East India Company employees and indentured workers from South East Asia – the dialect adds and subtracts both syllables and letters, and sentences speed by at a dizzying rate. It took me several tries to understand that Jonathon’s wish was actually a wash. He’d been given a good scrub when visited by the vet ­– so he’d look handsome for the new governor, Lisa Phillips, when she arrived. I felt strangely let down to discover that St Helena’s oldest resident hadn’t made a wish about his future. When not hissing or presenting you with his thighs to tickle, the ancient creature has seen Saint Helena transform from one of the world’s most important mid-ocean provisioning stops to an isolated and forgotten outpost, and then again into a community that’s once again ready to welcome the world. I’d like to imagine that if Jonathon had been granted a wish, he’d hope that the isolation, which made Saint Helena unique and makes visiting so alluring, gives way gently to change.

I think he’d wish for the Saints to keep marching to their own music as they welcome new visitors to their castle in the middle of the sea. If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter , called “If You Only Read 6 Things This Week”. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Earth, Culture, Capital, Travel and Autos, delivered to your inbox every Friday. Saint Helena | island, Atlantic Ocean | Britannica.com island, Atlantic Ocean Saint Helena, island and British overseas territory in the South Atlantic Ocean . It lies about 1,200 miles (1,950 km) west of the southwestern coast of Africa . Islands off the western coast of Africa. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. St. Helena has a maximum length (southwest-northeast) of 10.5 miles (17 km) and a maximum breadth of 6.5 miles (10 km). The capital and port is Jamestown . St. Helena is part of the British overseas territory of St.

Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; Ascension Island is approximately 700 miles (1,100 km) to the northwest, and the island group of Tristan da Cunha is some 1,300 miles (2,100 km) to the south. Area island of St. Helena, 47 square miles (122 square km). Pop. (2008) island of St. Helena, 3,981. Land Of volcanic origin, St. Helena has much volcanic ash and many conspicuous rock features, but volcanic activity on the island is now extinct. Perpendicular cliffs rise 1,600 to 2,300 feet (490 to 700 metres) on the eastern, northern, and western sides of the island. A semicircular rim of mountains north of Sandy Bay includes the island’s two highest points, Diana Peak (2,690 feet [820 metres]) and Mount Actaeon (2,625 feet [800 metres]). South of the mountains, water-cut gorges are dispersed, becoming deep valleys near the sea. Springs are numerous.

The only practicable place for ship landings is on the island’s northwestern side at James Bay , from which a narrow valley extends 1.5 miles (2.4 km) inland. In this valley is nestled the town and port of Jamestown. Mount Actaeon, part of an extinct volcanic ridge, St. Helena. Picturepoint, London St. Helena lies in the path of cool South Atlantic trade winds, and its climate is temperate, with warm summers and only slightly cooler winters. Annual rainfall ranges from 8 inches (200 mm) at sea level and more than 30 inches (760 mm) at the island’s centre. Similar Topics Curaçao St. Helena’s native flora and fauna, which existed in isolation for millions of years, were devastated by the arrival of humans beginning in the 16th century, and subsequent introductions of alien species have continued to cause damage. Unique species still survive, however.

The island can be divided into three vegetation zones: a rocky, barren coastal zone with cactus, extending inland for about 1 mile (1.6 km); a middle zone, extending another 0.25 to 1 mile (0.4 to 1.6 km) inland and supporting grassy hillslopes and gorse, willows, poplars, and Scotch pines; and the central zone, about 3 miles (5 km) long and 2 miles (3 km) wide, which is the home of the island’s many species of endemic plants (including the St. Helena ebony, St. Helena redwood, and black cabbage trees) as well as oak trees, cedars, eucalypti, bamboo, and banana plants. Animals native to the island tend to be small in size; they include invertebrates such as blushing snails and a variety of insects, as well as wirebirds (a type of plover). People The island’s population is largely of mixed European (mostly British), South and East Asian, and African descent. English is the only language spoken, and the majority of the people are Anglicans.

Jamestown, the only town among the settlements on St. Helena, has about one-sixth of the island’s population. Economy Less than one-third of the island is suitable for farming or forestry. Principal crops are corn (maize), potatoes, and green vegetables. Poultry, sheep, goats, cattle, and pigs are raised. Some coffee is grown for export. There are no minerals and virtually no industry, but some locally grown timber is used for construction purposes. Fish, primarily tuna, are caught in the waters around St. Helena; some is frozen at a cold-storage facility in the vicinity, and the remainder is dried and salted on the island. Virtually the entire output is exported. British Culture and Politics About two-thirds of the colony’s budget is provided by the United Kingdom in the form of a subsidy; the remainder is raised from the sale of postage stamps and from customs duties and wharf fees. The island began developing tourism on a small scale in the late 1990s. Unemployment is a persistent problem, and many residents work abroad, especially on Ascension Island. Britannica Stories Ringling Bros.

Folds Its Tent The only port, Jamestown, has good anchorage for ships, and there is passenger and cargo service by sea to Ascension Island, the United Kingdom, and South Africa . The island has a system of roads and an airport on Prosperous Bay Plain, near the island’s eastern coast. Government and society As outlined in the constitution of St. Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (2009), the executive authority of the territory is vested in the British monarch, represented by a governor appointed by the monarch. St. Helena, Tristan da Cunha, and Ascension share the same governor, attorney general, Supreme Court, and Court of Appeal but have separate legislatures. The governor presides over and is advised by the Executive Council, which comprises three ex officio members—the chief secretary, the financial secretary, and the attorney general—and five members of the Legislative Council, who are elected to serve on the Executive Council for two-year terms. The legislature of St.

Helena consists of the British monarch (nominally) and the Legislative Council, which has a speaker, a deputy speaker, the same three ex officio members who serve on the Executive Council, and 12 members who are elected to four-year terms (though the governor can dissolve the legislature before the end of the full term, at which time new elections are held). The territory’s residents are British subjects. Legislation passed in Britain in 1981 established that they were not full citizens of the United Kingdom, as had been traditionally held. This greatly limited the population’s opportunities for employment abroad, and the territory’s constitutional relationship with Britain continued to come under periodic review and amendment . The British Overseas Territories Act (2002) granted British citizenship to the people of the overseas territories, including those of St. Helena, Tristan da Cunha, and Ascension. Education is compulsory and free in public schools for children between the ages of 5 and 15. There are a number of private schools. History Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest The island was discovered in May 1502 by João da Nova , a Spanish navigator in the service of Portugal .

The exact date of the discovery traditionally has been given as May 21, which in the Eastern Orthodox Church is the feast day of St. Helena , Roman empress and mother of the emperor Constantine . Other evidence suggests, however, that it was May 3, the Roman Catholic feast day of the True Cross , of which St. Helena was the reputed discoverer. The existence of the island was known only to the Portuguese until 1588, when the English navigator Captain Thomas Cavendish visited St. Helena on his return from a voyage around the world. The island soon became a port of call for ships en route between Europe and the East Indies (present-day Indonesia ). The Dutch may have occupied St. Helena about 1645–51, but in 1659 the English East India Company took possession of the island. After a brief Dutch occupation in 1673, the East India Company was confirmed in its ownership. By 1673 nearly half of the inhabitants were imported slaves, but between 1826 and 1836 all slaves were freed. The remoteness of St.

Helena made it attractive to the powers of Europe as a place of exile for Napoleon I , and he was confined at Longwood House on the island from October 1815 until his death in May 1821. During that period the island was placed under the jurisdiction of the British crown. Subsequently the East India Company resumed control until 1834, when the authority of the crown was restored. St. Helena remained reasonably prosperous as a busy port of call until about 1870; thereafter steam started replacing sail in seafaring, and the Suez Canal opened (1869), changing the pattern of sea routes. In the early 1960s a telecommunications centre was developed on the island of Ascension, and employment there of workers from St. Helena restored a degree of prosperity. St. Helena was given some measure of self-rule through an Order in Council and Royal Instructions in 1966 (effective January 1967) that provided for local executive and legislative councils; this order was replaced by a new constitution that became effective in January 1989.

The territory’s relationship with Great Britain continued to evolve, and in July 2009 both parties approved a new constitution that came into effect on September 1. It included a bill of rights and limited some of the powers of the governor while giving more authority to members of the elected councils. More about Saint Helena [Photos] Royal Mail Ship St Helena to Retire [Photos] Royal Mail Ship St Helena to Retire By Wendy Laursen 2016-01-20 21:23:49 RMS St Helena will be missed dearly when she retires this year after 26 years of service. The RMS St Helena is one of the last three remaining Royal Mail Ships in operation and has been servicing the British Overseas Territory Island of St Helena Island and her dependencies for the past 26 years. St Helena lies in the South Atlantic Ocean, 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) east of Rio de Janeiro and 1,950 kilometers (1,210 miles) west of the Kunene River which marks the border between Namibia and Angola in southwestern Africa.

RMS St Helena first came into service in 1990 and primarily shuttles between the St Helena Island, neighboring Ascension Island and Cape Town. Other than the sporadic international cruise ship visit over the years, the RMS St Helena has been St Helena’s only constant link with the outside world. It’s a legacy that will come to an end this year as the island will open its first airport. The current RMS St Helena was built by Hall, Russell & Company in Aberdeen, and is Registered Class 1 passenger/cargo ship. She is British registered, 6,767 gross tons and has berths for a maximum of 156 passengers plus 56 officers and crew. She is equipped to carry all manner of cargo to meet the needs of the Island’s small 4,000 population. From wind turbines to automotive parts; sheep, goats, and Christmas turkeys to furniture, food and paint, everything has to be carried by ship to the island. Her industry and freight importance aside she provides St Helenian’s the world over a connection to their home island. St Helenians Robin and Emma-Jane Richards have created a commemorative poster to make the vessel’s retirement.

She reminisces: “When I was younger I always hesitated when someone asked me “where are you from? I can’t quite pin down your accent”. Not because I am embarrassed of my heritage or the way I sound. “On the contrary I am very proud of where I’m from. No, my hesitation comes solely from explaining, what often is met with bewilderment, that I am from a small isolated, obscure island in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean. That remote outcrop of volcanic rock is one of a few remaining British Overseas Territories around the world; St Helena Island. “The bewilderment and disbelief quickly changes into pure excitement when people find out just how isolated St Helena is and the logistics of how you get there. Up until now the only way to access the island was via sea. Yes, you read right, in a world where the other side of the world is just 24 hours flight away or you can jet off for a weekend to any major European city in the course of just a few hours, you still have to make an epic journey to reach a place like St Helena.

“At its quickest route you fly for some nine hours to the closest land mass, its sister island Ascension, where you board one of the last remaining Royal Mail Ships in the world and sail for two to three days. Or alternatively, you fly to Capetown in South Africa and catch the ship there to sail for five full days before the island looms on the horizon. In the course of my life I have made the journey to and from the St Helena many times, four of which were on a long 14 day journey direct between the Island and Portsmouth. “Some journeys have been through record high waves, others on ocean so still and expansive it feels like you’re not even moving. The constant in all those journeys has been a vessel that holds an endearing place in many hearts. “A vital physical link for islanders to the “outside” world, the RMS St Helena has, for generations, been a steady, loyal friend who offered a welcomed break from the isolation island life offers. “To some she is just a boat who simply transports cargo and mail to and from our island home. But to many the RMS St Helena represents far more than that, she has tirelessly served the people of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan Da Cunha.

Bringing long lost friends and family back home on triumphant returns. She’s been the backdrop to childhood adventures and given saints everywhere something to be proud off. If you have had the pleasure and privilege of travelling or working on the RMS St Helena you, my friend, have been a part of a beautiful history.” The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive. Tristan da Cunha | island group, Atlantic Ocean | Britannica.com Tristan da Cunha Gough Island Tristan da Cunha, island and group of islands in the South Atlantic Ocean , about midway between southern Africa and South America . The island group is a constituent part of the British overseas territory of St. Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. The six small islands of the Tristan da Cunha group are administered collectively. Five of them— Tristan da Cunha, Inaccessible, Nightingale, Middle, and Stoltenhoff—are located within 25 miles (40 km) of one another, and the sixth, Gough , lies about 200 miles (320 km) south-southeast of the group.

The territory is located approximately 1,300 miles (2,100 km) to the south of St. Helena . Inaccessible, Nightingale, Middle, and Stoltenhoff are uninhabited, while a weather station is manned on Gough Island. Islands off the western coast of Africa. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Tristan da Cunha island, the largest and northernmost of the group, is roughly circular, with a coastline of 21 miles (34 km) and a central volcanic cone (6,760 feet [2,060 metres]) that is usually cloud-covered. The climate is wet, windy, and mild. About 66 inches (1,675 mm) of rain falls annually on the north coast at Edinburgh of the Seven Seas (frequently shortened to Edinburgh), the only permanent settlement. Plant and animal life includes elephant seals and other species not found elsewhere in the world. Satellite view of Tristan da Cunha island, southern Atlantic Ocean. JPL/NASA Gough and Inaccessible islands together constitute a wildlife reserve, designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1995.

Inaccessible is about 20 miles (32 km) west-southwest of Tristan da Cunha. It is ringed by cliffs some 1,000 feet (300 metres) high, and beneath the cliffs are occasional narrow beaches. A bird endemic to Inaccessible is the small, flightless land rail. Nightingale Island, the southernmost of the group, is 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Inaccessible and 20 miles (32 km) south-southwest of Tristan da Cunha. Its coasts have low cliffs where millions of seabirds nest. The tiny islands of Middle and Stoltenhoff abut the north coast of Nightingale. Gough Island is about 8 miles (13 km) long and 4 miles (6 km) wide and is of volcanic origin. Gough Island, part of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, southern Atlantic Ocean. Photo by Steven Chown in Gewin V (2005) Eco-Defense against Invasions. PLoS Biol 3(12): e429.

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0030429 Similar Topics Fiji Executive authority is vested in a governor, who is also the governor of St. Helena and resides on that island. The governor appoints an administrator to represent him or her in Tristan da Cunha. An Island Council advises the administrator; it has three ex officio members and eight elected members. The administrator serves as president of the Island Council. The island group was discovered in 1506 by a Portuguese admiral, Tristão da Cunha. Two unsuccessful attempts to settle the islands during the 17th century and one in 1810 preceded the stationing of a British garrison on Tristan da Cunha in 1816, when the island group was formally annexed by the United Kingdom . When the garrison was withdrawn in 1817, three of its members chose to stay, and over the years they were joined by shipwrecked sailors, settlers of European extraction, and women from St. Helena. By 1886 there were 97 inhabitants.

The settlement, named Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, was located on the largest lowland strip, about 0.5 mile (0.8 km) wide and 5 miles (8 km) long. In 1938 the six islands were made dependencies of St. Helena. During World War II a naval meteorological and radio station was set up on Tristan da Cunha; afterward a South African weather station was also established there. World Tour A volcanic eruption on the island in October 1961 directly threatened the settlement, and the inhabitants were evacuated to England via Nightingale Island. The main body of 198 islanders returned to the island in November 1963. A new harbour was built in 1965–67. Roads and a hospital, as well as electric, water, and sewerage facilities, were later constructed. After a hurricane severely damaged Edinburgh in May 2001, aid flowed in from abroad to pay for rebuilding. According to the terms of the 2009 constitution drawn up for the islands, Tristan da Cunha was no longer a dependency of St. Helena but an equal part of the territory of St.

Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Britannica Stories Napoleon dies in exile - May 05, 1821 - HISTORY.com Napoleon dies in exile Publisher A+E Networks Napoleon Bonaparte , the former French ruler who once ruled an empire that stretched across Europe, dies as a British prisoner on the remote island of Saint Helena in the southern Atlantic Ocean. The Corsica-born Napoleon, one of the greatest military strategists in history, rapidly rose in the ranks of the French Revolutionary Army during the late 1790s. By 1799, France was at war with most of Europe, and Napoleon returned home from his Egyptian campaign to take over the reigns of the French government and save his nation from collapse. After becoming first consul in February 1800, he reorganized his armies and defeated Austria. In 1802, he established the Napoleonic Code, a new system of French law, and in 1804 was crowned emperor of France in Notre Dame Cathedral.

By 1807, Napoleon controlled an empire that stretched from the River Elbe in the north, down through Italy in the south, and from the Pyrenees to the Dalmatian coast. Beginning in 1812, Napoleon began to encounter the first significant defeats of his military career, suffering through a disastrous invasion of Russia, losing Spain to the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsula War, and enduring total defeat against an allied force by 1814. Exiled to the island of Elba, he escaped to France in early 1815 and raised a new Grand Army that enjoyed temporary success before its crushing defeat at Waterloo against an allied force under Wellington on June 18, 1815. Napoleon was subsequently exiled to the island of Saint Helena off the coast of Africa. Six years later, he died, most likely of stomach cancer, and in 1840 his body was returned to Paris, where it was interred in the Hotel des Invalides. Related Videos Saint Helena Island Info: All about St Helena, in the South Atlantic Ocean • Our island’s name William Shakespeare , Romeo and Juliet What, exactly, is our island’s name? ‘St.

Helena’, ‘St Helena’, ‘Saint Helena’, ‘St. Helena Island’, ‘Island of St. Helena’… Go to: How to pronounce ‘St Helena’ • Name variants in common use • Other publications • Rules of grammar • What do the earliest documents say? • An authoritative document? • Does it matter? • And the answer is… • Abbreviations • Maybe we should adopt another name entirely? • Read More How to pronounce ‘St Helena’ Let’s get one thing straight, right from the start! However you choose to spell our island’s name, it’s always pronounced the same way: ‘Saint Heleeeeenah’ Island of Saint Helena Saint Helena Island Which of these is the correct name? The answer isn’t as easy as you might think. Other publications The St Helena Sentinel and St Helena Independent use all of ‘St. Helena’, ‘St Helena’ and ‘Saint Helena’. The previous Government newspaper (The Herald) once managed to use both ‘St Helena’ and ‘St. Helena’ in the same item! (see picture) The island’s 2014 telephone directory was no more helpful.

Published by Sure South Atlantic , the cover announces that it is the ‘Telephone Directory 2014, St Helena Island’ but the first page calls it the ‘St. Helena Island Telephone Directory 2014’. And Sure’s address is given as ‘PO Box 2, Jamestown, Island of St.Helena’ (a variation we have not seen elsewhere - ‘St.Helena’ as one word, with no space). The 2016 directory is similar: ‘St Helena Island Telephone Directory’ on the cover; ‘St. Helena Island Telephone Directory’ inside; but they did put the space into the postal address. The Government of St Helena website, seems to use St Helena quite consistently but its publication is called ‘The St. Helena Government Gazette’. The Wikipedia uses ‘Saint Helena’. Our new airport is to be called ‘ St Helena Airport ’ but this has already been variously reported as ‘St. Helena Airport’ and ‘Saint Helena Airport’. Rules of grammar Could applying the rules of grammar lead to a simple result? Our island is named after a Saint, specifically Helena, the wife of the Roman emperor Constantius Chlorus and the mother of the emperor Constantine the Great .

So, grammatically, we only have two choices: ‘Saint Helena’ or ‘St. Helena’. It would be improper to abbreviate ‘Saint’ to ‘St’. But it doesn’t help us to decide between the two, or whether to add ‘Island of’ to the front or ‘Island’ to the end. What do the earliest documents say? Galvano’s ‘Discoveries of the world’, published in 1601 The earliest document we can trace that refers to our island is Galvano’s ‘Discoveries of the world’, published in 1601, available from Google Books™ in an English translation by the Hakluyt Society in 1862 but with the original Portuguese text incorporated. In page 98 we read “achram a ilha aque poseram nome de santa Elena” (translated as “found an island called Santa Helena”). That would suggest that our island’s original name should be unabbreviated: Saint Helena. 1680, William Berry, London But then a lot of the early map-makers call it other things: Ortelius’ ‘World Map’ from 1570 calls it ‘St.

Helena’; Pierre Du Val, in 1664, refers to it as ‘I S te Helene’ (but then he was French); William Berry (English) has ‘S. Helena’ (not even a ‘t’!) and Herman Moll (German born, but moved to London in his twenties) has ‘I S. Helena’. (You can see excerpts from all these maps on our Two St Helenas? page .) So not much help here. An authoritative document? St. Helena has a Constitution , in force since 1 st September 2009, reference S.I. 2009 No.1751 (UK). The Constitution is the most fundamental of our laws - any law that does not match up with the Constitution is required to be changed. So it’s probably safe to assert that our Constitution is our most authoritative modern document. So what does our Constitution give as our island’s name? The answer seems to lie in Paragraph 4 on page 2, which says (our emphasis): The territory of St Helena and Dependencies shall be called St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha . The very first paragraph, 1.

(1), states: This Order may be cited as the St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Constitution Order 2009. So that’s it then, isn’t it? If the territory is ‘St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha’ then our island must be ‘St Helena’. But hold on a minute. The title page of the same document announces that it is: The Constitution of St. Helena, Ascension and Tristan Da Cunha And in fact, scanning the Constitution document (as issued by the Government of St Helena ), we discover that four terms are actually used to refer to our island: ‘St Helena’ is used 377 times ‘St. Helena’ is used 132 times ‘Island of St. Helena’ is used once with a capital ‘I’ and once without (i.e. ‘island of St. Helena’) Only ‘St. Helena Island’ (or ‘St Helena Island’, or ‘Saint Helena Island’) is not used at all. So the issued version of our most fundamental document is not consistent! Does it matter?

Perhaps the only reason why it would truly matter is that we are not the only place in the world named after Saint Helena. If you do a Google™ search on ‘Saint Helena’ (or ‘St Helena’, or ‘St. Helena’ - Google™ isn’t fussy) you will discover: A city called Saint Helena in the Napa valley area of California An area of South Carolina called ‘Saint Helena Island’ (though it isn’t actually an island) A suburb of Melbourne, Australia called ‘Saint Helena’ (so named because it was settled by Anthony Beale, who had previously lived on our island before migrating to Australia in the 1830s) An island in Moreton Bay, on the coast of Queensland, Australia, that was formerly a penal colony (sound familiar?) …and probably a few others {1} . It would be nice if each of these had a unique name. For one thing it would make searching for St. Helena information on the Internet more reliable - we find the best Google™ search string to be ‘Saint helena [subject] -california -napa -carolina -queensland - melbourne’, which is rather a lot to type!

And the answer is… Despite the inconsistencies in the issued document, Paragraph 4 on page 2 of our Constitution is definitive, so as far as we are concerned, that’s the answer: St Helena. On this site we have tried to be consistent, using ‘St Helena’ throughout except where we have reproduced articles {2} . But then as the disclaimer says at the bottom of the page: PS: St. Helena, Saint Helena or St Helena - it’s the same unique place! Abbreviations The commonest abbreviations for St. Helena are ‘STHL’ (the first part of our postcode : STHL 1ZZ {3} ); or ‘SH’, which happens to be our Internet Country code top-level domain . ‘STH’ is also used, but more rarely. Maybe we should adopt another name entirely? In January 2016 this website received by email the suggestion that we should adopt as our island’s name a variation that has not, to our knowlege, been used before. We reproduce the email below for your interest. If you have any comments on this please contact us . I have visited your webpage sainthelenaisland.info and find your articles very intriguing and interesting.

The article about the official name of the island (‘OUR ISLAND’s NAME - what, exactly, is it?’) is one such fascinating piece. May I make a suggestion to you as an outsider? Please do not take exception, I am merely making a lighthearted suggestion, with no ill intent. But should you (and the rest of the islanders) like it, you can take all the credit for it: What about - the Isle of Saint Helena, as the full official name? My reasons are as follow: 1) When you abbreviate ‘saint’ it is very easy to forget or miss the period or full stop after the ‘t’. It is also better and more formal to type / write ‘saint’ in full instead of abbreviating it. 2) Since I am so hooked on this marvelous island, I have had the same problem when seeking internet information about the island, without getting random results of other locations with similar place-names, from the U.S.A., Australia and South Africa ect. 3) Due to the inherent British culture, the islanders strong loyalty to the British monarch and heritage, the long history of direct influence from the U.K.

Government, and the fact that most islands around the U.K. are officially referred to as ‘isle’, as in the Isle of Wright, Isle of Skye, Isle of Man ect. - Even the U.K. is also known as the British Isles. 4) Upon researching the etymological difference between ‘isle’ and ‘island’ I find an interesting explanation, that I am pasting here for your perusal (extract from english.stackexchange.com/questions/131805/isle-vs-island ): “In practice, there is no difference, they can be used interchangeably but isle is archaic. Anything called isle can also be referred to as an island.” island (n.)1590s, earlier yland (c.1300), from Old English igland ‘island,’ from ieg ‘island’ (from Proto-Germanic *aujo ‘thing on the water,’ from PIE *akwa- ‘water;’ see aqua-) + land ‘land.’ Spelling modified 15c. by association with similar but unrelated isle.

An Old English cognate was ealand ‘river-land, watered place, meadow by a river.’ In place names, Old English ieg is often used of ‘slightly raised dry ground offering settlement sites in areas surrounded by marsh or subject to flooding’ [Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names]. Related: Islander. isle (n.)late 13c., from Old French ile, earlier isle, from Latin insula ‘island,’ of uncertain origin, perhaps (as the Ancients guessed) from in salo ‘(that which is) in the sea,’ from ablative of salum ‘the open sea.’ The -s- was restored first in French, then in English in the late 1500s. Poetic except when cap. and part of place name; an island, esp a small one So ‘isle’ has the same meaning, just more poetic (it is a monosyllabic word), more often used with small islands. As for geographic names - they were named like that at some time, so someone chose ‘isle’ over ‘island’ while naming them. I know that ‘isle’ is usually reserved for the islands in the U.K.

territorial waters, but since the French also make use of basically the same word, ‘ile’ as in Ile Maurice (a.k.a. Mauritius), and bearing in mind that the French leader Napoleon was exiled to Saint Helena, it makes even more sense. Then in your extract from Galvano’s ‘Discoveries of the world’, published in 1601, on page 98 it reads “achram a ilha aque poseram nome de santa Elena”, ‘ilha’ can also be translated from Portuguese into ‘isle’. A good example of this point is Ilha de Moçambique, directly translated means Isle of Mozambique. 5) If you consider Island of Saint Helena vs Isle of Saint Helena, it even looks softer on the eye, and phonically it sounds much better. Besides, there is just a lot more islands than isles In conclusion, a subtle change in wording could make a very unique name, without changing anything really about the essence of Saint Helena and / or its identity.

This is a one-of-a-kind tropical (/sub-tropical) island (it is further North than both Mauritius and Reunion, which is considered tropical), without the (mundane and) stereotypical image of white / creamy sandy beaches and coconut palm trees. Now that the airport is nearing its completion, and the main reason for its construction is to boost the economy through tourism, detail is everything. In the tourism industry, which become more and more competitive, you have set the bar higher than the competition. Tourist are lured to visit a venue, place, country ect., not only due to good service, nice scenery and pleasant atmosphere, but providing some experience so unique it can be found nowhere else on earth. That experience starts with the name… Let this island bear a name worthy of its legacy! What do you think? Just pondering… I hope you (or any Saint) were not offended in anyway whatsoever. My sincere apologies if you were. I know some people are very sensitive. I only had good intentions with this writing. Kind regards We put this idea to the Tourist Office . They said “it would cost millions to rebrand…”, which we take as “No”.

Read More From the Wikipedia , retrieved 15 th Genuine road sign (see also some others ; and we also have a page on this site called ‘Zzyzx’ ) Toponymy is the study of place names (toponyms), their origins, meanings, use and typology. Toponym is the general term for any place or geographical entity. Related, more specific types of toponym include hydronym for a body of water and oronym for a mountain or hill. A toponymist is one who studies toponymy. According to the Oxford English Dictionary , the word ‘toponymy’ first appeared in English in 1876; since then, toponym has come to replace ‘place-name’ in professional discourse among geographers. It can be argued that the first toponymists were the storytellers and poets who explained the origin of specific place names as part of their tales; sometimes place-names served as the basis for the etiological legends. The process of folk etymology usually took over, whereby a false meaning was extracted from a name based on its structure or sounds.

Thus, the toponym of Hellespont was explained by Greek poets as being named after Helle, daughter of Athamas, who drowned there as she crossed it with her brother Phrixus on a flying golden ram. The name, however, is probably derived from an older language, such as Pelasgian, which was unknown to those who explained its origin. George R. Stewart theorized, in his book ‘Names on the Globe’, that Hellespont originally meant something like ‘narrow Pontus’ or ‘entrance to Pontus’, ‘Pontus’ being an ancient name for the region around the Black Sea, and by extension, for the sea itself. Place names provide the most useful geographical reference system in the world. Consistency and accuracy are essential in referring to a place to prevent confusion in everyday business and recreation. A toponymist, through well-established local principles and procedures developed in cooperation and consultation with the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) , applies the science of toponymy to establish officially recognized geographical names. A toponymist relies not only on maps and local histories, but interviews with local residents to determine names with established local usage.

The exact application of a toponym, its specific language, its pronunciation, and its origins and meaning are all important facts to be recorded during name surveys. Scholars have found that toponyms provide valuable insight into the historical geography of a particular region. In 1954 F. M. Powicke said of place-name study that it “uses, enriches and tests the discoveries of archaeology and history and the rules of the philologists ”. Toponyms not only illustrate ethnic settlement patterns, but they can also help identify discrete periods of immigration. Toponymists are responsible for the active preservation of their region’s culture through its toponymy. They typically ensure the ongoing development of a geographical names data base and associated publications, for recording and disseminating authoritative hard-copy and digital toponymic data. This data may be disseminated in a wide variety of formats, including hard-copy topographic maps as well as digital formats such as geographic information systems and Google Maps™. Take Me Anywhere But Here! PLEASE NOTE: We actively encourage others to quote from this site. Please see our Link To Us page for more. Got a question about St Helena?

We’ve already answered many common questions on our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ page , including: but if your question isn’t covered please contact us . Saint Helena Island Info: All about St Helena, in the South Atlantic Ocean • Our island’s name • Copyright © Moonbeams Limited, v1484383237 • Site Index • Direct URL: PS: St. Helena, Saint Helena or St Helena - it’s the same unique place! This site is provided by the Moonbeams Shop , selling cards, gifts & souvenirs in Jamestown , St Helena.

Question: The island of St Helena lies in which body of water?
Answer: Atlantic Ocean