for he was then possessed with a passion for
gardening. Lightly clad and protected by a broad-brimmed hat, he went
about, sometimes spade in hand, superintending various changes in the
grounds at Longwood and around the new house which was being erected
for him hard by. Or at other times he used the opportunity afforded by
the excavations to show how infantry might be so disposed on a hastily
raised slope as to bring a terrific fire to bear on attacking cavalry.
Marshalling his followers at dawn by the sound of a bell, he made them
all, counts, valets, and servants, dig trenches as if for the front
ranks, and throw up the earth for the rear ranks: then, taking his
stand in front, as the shortest man, and placing the tallest at the
rear (his Swiss valet, Noverraz), he triumphantly showed how the
horsemen might be laid low by the rolling volleys of ten ranks.[586]
In May or June he took once more to horse exercise, and for a time his
health benefited from all this activity. His relations with the
Governor were peaceful, if not cordial, and the limits were about this
time extended.

Indoors there were recreations other than work at the Memoirs. He
often played chess and billiards, at the latter using his hand instead
of the cue! Dinner was generally at a very late hour, and afterwards
he took pleasure in reading aloud. Voltaire was the favourite author,
and Montholon afterwards confessed to Lord Holland that the same
plays, especially "Zaire," were read rather too often.

"Napoleon slept himself when read to, but he was very observant
and jealous if others slept while he read. He watched his audience
vigilantly, and _'Mme. Montholon, vous dormez'_ was a frequent
ejaculation in the course of reading. He was animated with all
that he read, especially poetry, enthusiastic at beautiful
passages, impatient of faults, and full of ingenious and lively
remarks on style."[587]

During this same halcyon season two priests, who had been selected by
the Bonapartes, arrived in the island, as also a Corsican doctor,
Antommarchi. Napoleon was disappointed with all three. The doctor,
though a learned anatomist, knew little of chemistry, and at an early
interview with Napoleon passed a catechism on this subject so badly
that he was all but chased from the room. The priests came off little
better. The elder of them, Buonavita by name, had lived in Mexico, and
could talk of little else: he soon fell ill, and hi