Saint Helena

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Tristan da Cunha

Saint Helena is a British Overseas Territory consisting of Saint Helena and Ascension Islands, and the island group of Tristan da Cunha

Saint Helena, Ascension Islands

Uninhabited when first discovered by the Portuguese in 1502, Saint Helena was garrisoned by the British during the 17th century.

It acquired fame as the place of Napoleon Bonaparte''s exile from 1815 until his death in 1821, but its importance as a port of call declined after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.

This basalt outcropping of land in the South Atlantic, surrounded by thousands of miles of water and not much else, was where, the deposed emperor was exiled and died.

April 1, 1871, The Monthly Magazine, No. 296, 3 of Vol 43.

The Friends of this Miscellany, who may be desirous of completing their Sets or Volumes, are requested to take notice, that, for the purpose of encouraging their Design, the several Numbers composing' the first FORTY VOLUMES, or to the Commencement of 1816, will be sold at ONE SHILLING and THREE PENCE per Number, till the first of May next; but, after that time, they can be had only at the usual Price of Two Shillings. The increased Demand for this Work, in every part of the World where the English Language is read, and the Interruptions of the supply in foreign-Countries, owing to successive Wars, will, it is presumed, render this Proposal an Accommodation to many of our distant Readers, as well as to many new Subscribers at Home.

Page 20 from Warden's Letters on Napoleon:

Arrival at St. Helena.

(Portrait of Napoleon: Jacques-Louis David)

Napoleon did not leave his cabin for a full hour after the ship had anchored in the bay; however, when the deck became clear, he made his appearance, and ascended the poop ladder, from which he could examine every gun that bristles at the mouth of James Valley; in the center of which the town of that name, and the only one in the island, is situated. While he stood there I watched his countenance with the most observant attention, and it betrayed no particular sensation: he looked as any other man would look at a place which he beheld for the first time. -I shall also take this opportunity to mention that, during the whole voyage, from the moment the Bellerophon set sail from England to its arrival at St. Helena, I never saw any change in the placid countenance and unassuming manners of our distinguished shipmate; nor did I hear of a discontented look, or a peevish expression, being remarked by any other person in the ship. The ladies, indeed, discovered some distress on the first view of their rocky cage; but their general conduct, on the occasion, displayed a degree of self-possession which was not expected of them.

The first object of the admiral was to make the necessary arrangements for the accommodation of Napoleon and his suite; and the Lieutenant-Governor's house was appropriated for that purpose, till a proper place could be prepared for his fixed residence. It was not, therefore, 'til the 17th, that they disembarked. After sunset, on that day, when the inhabitants of the town, wearied out in waiting for the spectacle of Bonaparte's landing, had retired to their homes, that the, according to the wish he had expressed, passed unobserved to the house where he was to pass the first night as an inhabitant of St. Helena.

VISIT TO NAPOLEON.

It was not till some time in November, that I paid a second visit to the Briars, whither an invitation to dine with Mr. Balcombe had called me.

As I reached the spot some time before the dinner hour; I proposed to amuse myself in examining the cultivated spots, attached to the domain, I accidentally took the path which leads to the gardens, and at the gate where it terminates there is a narrow goats' passage leading directly into it, whose sides are lined with prickly pear bush. At the angle formed by the two paths, I met Napoleon clattering down from among the rocks in his heavy military boots. He accosted me with an apparent mixture of satisfaction and surprize; and reproached me in terms of great civility for my long absence. There was a rough deal board placed as a seat between two stones, on which, after having brushed away the dust with his hand, he sat himself down, and desired me to take my place by him. Las Cases soon joined us, for, in scrambling through these rocky paths, his master, badly as he walks, had got the start of him. On all sides of the spot where we were seated, rocks were piled on rocks to the height of a thousand feet above our heads, while there was an abyss of equal depth at our feet. Nature seems in a sportive mood to have afforded this level space for a semi-aerial dwelling, and, while I was gazing with some astonishment on the barren wonders of the scene around me "Well," said Napoleon with a smile, "what say you to it ? and can you think that your countrymen -have treated me kindly?" I had but one answer to such a question; and that was, by not giving any answer at all.

His conversation then turned upon the state and character of the island, of which, he observed, all the books he read respecting it , during the voyage, had given a very partial representation, unless there were parts of a more pleasing aspect than any he had seen in his rides to Longwood, which comprehended the utmost extent of his observation. His conversation was, on this occasion, as on all others when I have been with him easy, good humoured and familiar, without the least taint of his former greatness and tier the topic would admit of it, he never failed to give an air of cheerfulness to his remarks.

On my mentioning the activity of the admiral in superintending the repairs at Longwood, and that it would probably be ready to receive him in the course of a month; he replied, Your admiral knows, I doubt not, to a moment, in what time a ship may be got ready, but, as an architect, I think his calculations will fail. I maintained, however, that, whether it was upon land or sea, Sir George Cockburn was of a character that would ensure success in whatever he might be called upon to undertake. I added, that the officers were actually employed in accompanying the seamen to Longwood, with the materials necessary for its completion. He then enquired after those gentlemen whose names he endeavoured to recollect; and expressed a with to see them as they passed: "if," said he, "they will be contented to visit me as you now do, in the fields; as my present habitation, which serves me for breakfast, dinner and bed-room, is not precisely calculated to receive company . . . "

Treatment of Napoleon at St. Helena

Pages 71-75

An Appeal to the British Nation, published in London, by M. Santini, messenger to the cabinet of the ex-Emperor, and keeper of his port-folio.

There are those who, in this nineteenth century, still think and publish, that Glory may be achieved in any kind of war, even by a banditti, Who may surround a house in the night, and put all the family to the sword or who, hearing of a feud in a house which they had hitherto found too strong for them, by joining one of the parties may be enabled to maim or murder the other-party, and carry off -their chief into captivity. We think otherwise.

. . . Those who think that nations are like flocks which belong of divine right to certain families, do not belong to the age, nor do they participate in the spirit of the English Legislation, which has several times changed the order of its dynasty, because great changes bad taken place in public opinion, in which the reigning princes not participating, they became enemies to the welfare of the great majority of the nation, for kings are only hereditary magistrates; who exist for the welfare of nations, and not nations for the satisfaction of kings.

It is in the same hateful spirit that orders have been given that the Emperor Napoleon shall not be allowed to write or receive any letters, unless they are opened and read by the English ministers and the officers at St. Helena. They have interdicted to him the possibility of receiving intelligence from his wife, his mother, his ton, or his brothers; and when, in order to avoid the inconvenience of having his letters read by subaltern officers, he wished to send his letters sealed to the Prince Regent, he was told that the order could not be departed from, and the letters must pass open, such being the instructions of the ministry. This conduct needs no observation; it gives rise, however, to strange ideas as to the spirit of the administration which could dictate what would be disavowed even at Algiers. Letters have arrived at St. Helena, for the officers in the suite of the Emperor; they were broken open and transmitted to you, but you have not communicated them, because they did not come through the channel of the English ministry. Thus they had to go back 4,000 leagues, and these officers had the grief of knowing, that there was intelligence oh the rock, from their wives, their parents, their children, and that they could not know the nature of it for six months the heart must solace itself!

They could not obtain either the Morning Chronicle, the British Press, or any French Journals: now and then a few stray numbers of the Times reached Longwood. In consequence of a request made on board the Northumberland, some books were sent, but all those relative to the affairs of late years have been carefully kep back. He wished to correspond with a bookseller in London, in order to have direct the book's which he wanted, and those relative to the events of the day this was prevented. An English author, having made a tour in France,' and having published an account of it in London, took the trouble to transmit it to yon, in order that it might be presented to the Emperor; you thought proper not to transmit it because it was not sent to you by the express desire of your government.

Napoleon's Farewell at Fountainbleau.

It is said also, that other books sent by their authors have hot been transmitted, because some of them were inscribed to the Emperor Napoleon, and others to Napoleon the Great. The English ministry is not authorized to order any of these vexations; the law; although unique, by which the British Parliament regards the Emperor Napoleon as a prisoner of war, has never prohibited prisoners of war from subscribing to journals or receiving printed books such a prohibition only takes place in the dungeons of the Inquisition.

The island of St. Helena is ten leagues in circumference; it is inaccessible every where; brigs sail round the coast; posts are stationed on the shore within sight of each other, which render impracticable any communication with the sea. There is only one small town (James Town), where there is an anchorage and where vessels touch. To prevent an individual from quitting the island, it is sufficient to guard the shore by land and sea. To lay an interdict on the interior of the island can therefore have no other object than to deprive him of a promenade of from eight to ten miles, which it would be possible to make on horseback, and the privation of which will shorten the life of the Emperor. The Emperor has been established at Longwood, exposed to every wind, and where the land is sterile and uninhabitable, without water, and not susceptible of any cultivation. There is a circuit marked out of about 1,200 paces; at about 11 or 1,200 distance a camp is established on a bill, and another camp in au opposite direction at the' same distance; in short, in the midst of the heat of the tropic there is nothing to be seen but camps. Admiral Malcolm having learnt the utility which the Emperor would derive from a tent in that situation, caused one to be set up by his sailors, at 20 paces distance in front of the house; it was the only place in which shade could be found. The Emperor had as much reason to be satisfied with the spirit that animated the officers and soldiers of the. brave 53d regiment, as be bad been with the crew of the Northumberland.

The house of Longwood was built to serve as a barn for the Company's farm; the deputy governor of the island had since built some chambers; it served him for a country house, but it was not in a proper habitable state; workmen have been employed at it for a year, and the Emperor has been continually subjected to the inconvenience and insalubrity of inhabiting a house in the progress of building.

The chamber in which he sleeps is too small to contain a bed of ordinary dimensions; but every alteration at Longwood prolongs the inconvenience of having Workmen there. There, are, however, in this miserable territory, beautiful situations, presenting fine trees, gardens, and good houses. There is, besides, Plantation House: but the positive instructions of government forbad you from giving up this house, although much expence would thereby have been saved to your government an expence incurred in fitting up at Longwood a hut, covered with paper which is already unserviceable.

You have interdicted all correspondence between us and the inhabitants of the island; you have, in fact, placed the house at Longwood in seclusion; you have even prevented any communication with the officers of the garrison: it seems, therefore, to "be your study to deprive us of the little resource which this miserable territory affords, and we are here just as we should be on the insulated and uninhabited rock of Ascension. During the four months that you have been at St. Helena, you have, sir, rendered the situation of the Emperor much worse. Count Bertrand has observed to you that you violate even the laws of your Legislature, and that you trample under foot the rights of general officers, prisoners of war. You have replied, that you act according to the letter of your instructions, and that your conduct to us is not worse than is dictated by them.

I have the honour to be your very humble and very obedient servant,

The General Count de Montholon

During the Anglo-Boer War in South Africa, several thousand Boer prisoners were confined on the island of Saint Helena between 1900 and 1903.

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1899. World's Fleet. Boston Daily Globe

Lloyds Register of Shipping gives the entire fleet of the world as 28,180 steamers and sailing vessels, with a total tonnage of 27,673,628, of which 39 perent are British.

Great Britain	10,990 vessels, total tonnage of 10,792,714
United States	3,010 vessels, total tonnage of 2,405,887
Norway	2,528 vessels, tonnage of 1,604,230
Germany	1,676 vessels, with a tonnage of 2,453,334, in which are included her particularly large ships.
Sweden	1,408 vessels with a tonnage of 643, 527
Italy	1,150 vessels
France	1,182 vessels

For Historical Comparison
Top 10 Maritime Nations Ranked by Value (2017)

	Country	# of Vessels	Gross Tonnage (m)	Total Value (USDbn)
1	Greece	4,453	206.47	$88.0
2	Japan	4,317	150.26	$79.8
3	China	4,938	159.71	$71.7
4	USA	2,399	55.92	$46.5
5	Singapore	2,662	64.03	$41.7
6	Norway	1,668	39.68	$41.1
7	Germany	2,923	81.17	$30.3
8	UK	883	28.78	$24.3
9	Denmark	1,040	36.17	$23.4
10	South Korea	1,484	49.88	$20.1
Total		26,767	87.21	$466.9