Recollections of Napoleon at St. Helena/Chapter 17

SIR GEORGE COCKBURN'S NEWFOUNDLAND DOG.—FATAL ACCIDENT TO A SOLDIER OF THE FIFTY-THIRD REGIMENT.—THE RUNAWAY SLAVE.—EXHIBITION OF A CARICATURE, AND CONSEQUENT PUNISHMENT TO ME.

Upon one occasion, Sir George Bingham gave a grand ball to all the people on the island, as a sort of return for civilities shewn to him and his officers of the 53rd regiment. It was the prettiest thing of the kind and the best one I ever remember either before or since; and as the scene of revel was close to Longwood, we were told the emperor had the curiosity to take a peep at it incog. I verily believe he had, from the faithful and animated detail he entered into respecting it the next day, and his criticisms ​upon dancing, dress, &c. The first attempt at waltzing was made on that occasion in the Saraband, and he took off a certain young lady's graceless movements so inimitably, that we felt sure he had indulged. himself with a peep.

Sir G. Cockburn had a beautiful dog of the Newfoundland breed, which was a great favourite, both from its beauty and docility. It was very fond of accompanying its noble master whenever he honoured the Briars with a visit, for the place abounded with ponds and rivulets, in which Tom Pipes delighted to swim and cool himself after following at the horses' heels up the mountain, under a sultry tropical sun. One time, as Napoleon was engaged making notes in the garden of the Briars, close to a large pond full of gold and silver fish, I called the dog to have a gambol and refresh himself with a bath, well knowing his custom was to shake his huge sides after ducking, and then woe betide the person nearest ​him whilst this operation was performing, they were sure to have their clothes completely saturated. Such was now the case; for Pipes enjoyed his bath immensely, and dived and ducked about, much to the consternation of the gold and silver fish. When he thought he had had enough, he scrambled up the bank, took his place by the emperor's side, who was so much absorbed by his employment as to be unaware of the shower bath in store for him, and it was not until a vigorous shake of the dog, and a plentiful besprinkling all over dress and person, that he found out the mischief of which I had been the cause. The paper on which he had written was spoiled, and he presented a very deplorable figure himself. It was impossible to help laughing, although he was very angry, for Tom Pipes would not go away; he had been a shipmate of Napoleon's on board the Northumberland, and was so glad to see him again, that he ​kept jumping on him with his wet paws, thereby adding mud to wet and dust.

One morning as we were walking, or rather scrambling, among the rocks that close in the waterfall near the Briars, we espied something hanging over the ledge of a rock above us which had the appearance of a soldier in his uniform: the height was so great, and the precipice so perpendicular, that it was an utter impossibility for us to attempt scaling it to ascertain what it could be; but still it looked so strange, and the position of the man (if man it were) so perilous, that we determined on returning to the cottage to send forth some one of bolder heart and steadier nerves than our party possessed, who might throw a light upon the mysterious occupant of the rocky ledge. On our way, we encountered Count Las Cases and the emperor, whose curiosity had also been directed to the object which had excited our attention; he had seen it from his pavilion, and was reconnoitring it with ​his little spy-glass, the same with which he viewed the battle of Waterloo. We asked him what he thought it could be; he looked grave, and replied, we had better return to the house and remain there for a time, as we might probably be shocked at a scene which he doubted not would soon present itself. He had discovered, by the aid of his glass, that the object which had raised our curiosity, was the corpse of a soldier, who must have met his death by some dreadful accident; his conjecture was soon ascertained to be too true. A soldier had obtained leave of absence the night before for a few hours, and was to have been back by sunset. He outstayed his leave, beguiling time with some old comrades, and had perhaps indulged too freely at the shrine of Bacchus. But be that as it may, on finding he had exceeded his time, and being well aware of the severe discipline necessarily maintained at this time on the island, he had tried to reach his barrack by a short ​cut, missed his footing, and was precipitated over the ledge, falling from a height of at least one hundred feet. We were all in a state of the most painful excitement during the ceremony of the coroner's inquest which was held on the dead man. I recollect Napoleon did not lose that occasion of hinting to my father, that if the poor soldier had sat less time after dinner he probably would not have met with so dreadful a fate.

About that time there was quite a chapter of tragical accidents, one of which has flashed on my mind. My young brother had a kind of tutor, faute de mieux, a curious character, whose name was Huff; he had been an inhabitant of the island I believe at that time nearly half a century. This old man, since the arrival of Napoleon, had taken many strange fancies into his brain; among others, that he was destined to restore the fallen hero to his pristine glory, and that he could at any time free him from thraldom. All argument ​with this old man upon the folly of his ravings was useless; he still persisted in it, and it soon became evident that old Huff was mad, and, though strictly watched, he found an opportunity one fatal morning to destroy himself. An inquest was held on him, felo de se returned as verdict, (for there was much method evinced in his madness,) and his body was ordered to be interred in the spot where three cross roads met. The nearest to the scene where the act was committed was the road leading to the Briars, and there they buried the old man.

I had amongst many other follies a terror of ghosts, and this weakness was well known to the emperor, who, for a considerable time after the suicide of poor Huff, used to frighten me nearly into fits. Every night, just before my hour of retiring to my room, he would call out, "Miss Betsee, ole Huff; ole Huff:" The misery of those nights I shall never forget; I used generally to ​fly out of my bed during the night, and scramble into my mother's room, and remain there till morning's light dispelled the terrors of darkness.

One evening, when my mother, my sister and myself were quietly sitting in the porch of the cottage, enjoying the coolness of the night breeze, suddenly we heard a noise, and turning round beheld a figure in white—how I screamed. We were then greeted with a low gruff laugh, which my mother instantly know to be the emperor's. She turned the white covering, and underneath appeared the black visage of a little servant of ours, whom Napoleon had instigated to frighten Miss Betsee, while he was himself a spectator of the effect of his trick. This pleasantry of Napoleon's gave rise soon after to a ghost scene, which was enacted to the life by one of our runaway slaves, of the name of Alley; he had been missing for many weeks, and had eluded all search. Pigs, poultry, bread, all the ​contents of the larder nightly disappeared, no one knew how; but the servants affirmed that a figure in white was seen hovering around the valley, and skipping from rock to rock; they were so alarmed, none would venture out singly. Days and weeks went on, Napoleon's cook complaining, in common with ours, of depredations committed on his cuisine; and not having the benefit of a market to replace the loss, it was a matter of no small annoyance. I firmly believed it to be Huff's ghost, and became quite ill from sleepless nights, being literally afraid to close my eyes. At length, after repeated unsuccessful watching, my father and some friends saw a figure stealing along the valley which led towards the house; they watched it uninterruptedly, until it appeared within hail, and upon receiving no answer to their challenge, they fired in the direction. A scream soon told the effect of their shot. Hastening to the spot, they beheld a negro slave, whom they ​discovered to be the runaway Alley. The poor boy was much hurt, though not mortally. When daylight came they repaired to his haunt, which was the most ingeafously contrived cave, nature over formed: imperceptible until you came close to it, the entrance being low, and covered by a sheltering rock. There he had lived for weeks, close to his master, and had nightly prowled about, lightening our larders, and robbing the hen roosts.

Napoleon entered the cave with us, and seemed much diverted at the piles of bones collected and neatly arranged by the slave, after he had disposed of their various integuments. He said it reminded him of one of the catacombs in Paris.

I recollcet exhibiting to Napoleon a caricature of him in the act of climbing a ladder, each step he ascended represented some vanquished country; at length he was seated astride upon the world. It was a famous toy, and by a dexterous trick Napoleon ap​peared on the contrary side tumbling down head over heels, and after a perilous descent, alighting on St. Helena. I ought not to have shewn him this burlesque on his misfortunes, but at that time I was guilty of every description of mad action, though without any intention of being unkind; still I fear they were often deeply felt. My father, of whom I always stood in awe, heard of my rudeness, and desired me to consider myself under arrest for at least a week, and I was transferred from the drawing-room to a dark cellar, and there left to solitude and repentance. I did not soon forget that punishment, for the excavation swarmed with rats, that leaped about me on all sides. I was half dead with horror, and should most certainly have been devoured alive by the vermin, had I not in despair seized a bottle of wine, and dashed it amongst my assailants; finding that I succeeded in occasioning a momentary panic, I continued to diminish ​the pile of claret near me, and kept my enemies at bay. As the first faint light of morning dawned through my prison bars, I was startled to perceive what my victory would cost my father, for I was surrounded by heaps of broken bottles, and rivulets of wine, and either from exhaustion, or the exhalation from the saturated ground of the cellar, I was found by the slave who brought me my breakfast in the morning, in a state of stupor from which I was with difficulty aroused. My father was too happy at my escape to blame me for the means I resorted to to preserve myself from my hungry foes; and I was forgiven my ill-judged pleasantry to the emperor. The latter expressed regret at my severe punishment for so trifling an offence, but was much amused by my relation of the battle with the rats; he said, he had been startled by observing a huge one jumping out of his hat, as he was in the act of putting it on.

On a subsequent occasion, I was confined ​during the day in the same prison that had been the scene of my nocturnal encounter. Having excited my father's ire for some mischievous trick, and for which, in spite of Napoleon's remonstrances, I was to be condemned to a week's imprisonment, I was taken to my cell every morning, and released at night only to go to bed. The emperor's great amusement during that time was to converse with me through my grated window, and he generally succeeded in making me laugh, by mimicking my dolorous countenance. He was much surprised and amused to find me, on the third day of my imprisonment, busily employed making myself a dress; and was more astonished still when I told him it was a voluntary act; that I had, in a fit of desperation at the dullness of my séjour in the cellar, begged my old black nurse, Sarah, to give me some work. I regret that my fit of industry did not survive the term of my incarceration.

​The emperor advised my mother to keep the dress I had made during my imprisonment, and occasionally exhibit it to me, when I was contemplating any rash act which might bring down a renewal of my late punishment. He always denominated it the prison livery.