Page:Napoleon (O'Connor 1896).djvu/410

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394
Napoleon.

would make us an excellent pilot had we touched there." Talking to an English lieutenant who had been in charge of the transports that brought to Elba Napoleon's horses, baggage, etc., he "gave a remarkable proof of his retentive memory." Lieutenant Bailey informed him that after the Guards had embarked a violent gale of wind arose, with a heavy sea, which at one time threatened the destruction of the transports, and that he considered Savona a dangerous anchorage. Napoleon remarked that if he had gone to a small bay (I think it was Vado) near Savona, he might have lain there in perfect safety.

VI.

RULER OF ELBA.

The other quality of Napoleon which comes out most vividly from Ussher's narrative, was the facility with which he settled down to the work of governing his little island. Think of the awful strain through which he had passed for all these years, and especially in those which immediately preceded his overthrow, and then wonder at the vast power of recovery he showed when he was able to sit down for hours and discuss with an English naval officer the new flag which he was going to give to Elba! And when the time came for him to land, he went through the ceremony of taking possession of his little