ich are very destructive even on shore.

On the following day we passed the large frigate Bombay, belonging to
the English East India Company, having on board, as passengers, the
Governor of Batavia, Baron vander Kapellen, and his lady, with whom we
afterwards had the pleasure of forming an acquaintance in St. Helena. On
the 15th of March we doubled the Cape of Good Hope. It had been my
intention to anchor in Table Bay, but a storm from the north-west came
just in time to remind us how dangerous the bay is at this season, and
we prosecuted our voyage to St. Helena. On the 25th of the same month,
having traversed 360 degrees of longitude from east to west, we had lost
a day, and were therefore compelled to change our Friday into a
Saturday.

On the 29th we anchored at St. Helena, before the little town of St.
James, the whole crew being cheerful and healthy; but our spirits were
soon damped by the news of the death of the Emperor Alexander, which we
now received. I must here not omit to express my most cordial thanks to
the Governor of St. Helena, for his very kind reception of myself and
companions, and for his constant endeavours to make our stay on the
island agreeable; he gave dinners and balls for our entertainment, and
was always ready to comply with our wishes; hence he granted us what it
is usually difficult to obtain--permission to visit the celebrated
estate of Longwood, where Napoleon closed his splendid career, in
powerless and desolate loneliness. We rode thither one fine morning, on
horseback. The little town of St. James lies in a ravine between two
high, steep, barren lava-rocks; its pleasant situation and cheerful
aspect presenting a striking contrast with the gloom of its immediate
environs. By a serpentine road cut through the rock, we climbed an
ascent, by nature inaccessible; this path, in some parts not three
fathoms in breadth, is bounded on one side by the perpendicular rock,
and on the other overlooks an abrupt precipice, from which however it is
defended by a strong stone balustrade, so that however fearful in
appearance, its only real danger lies in an accident which sometimes
happens, that large fragments detach themselves from the superincumbent
rock, and roll down the precipice, carrying before them every thing that
might obstruct their passage to the bottom.

Having with some difficulty reached the highest ground on the island, we
found the tropical heat changed into a refreshing coolness