Page:California Digital Library (IA recollectionsofe00abeliala).pdf/244

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
210
Recollections of
[Ch. XVIII.

and downcast gaze. He said he intended having a private walk, where he could not be overlooked, and for that purpose had directed the ditch to be constructed. It was so laughable an idea, that we could not help smiling at a man's having a ditch to promenade in, but so it was the work was completed soon after, and he had an unobserved walk, which, when made, we were told he never used. I think my memory in this instance has not failed me.

After the earthquake; from sitting on the steps of the verandah, I caught a violent cold, and was sneezing and coughing all the morning. Napoleon said the climate was so bad it was not to be wondered at, and that we ought to have fireplaces made at the Briars, to keep out the cold in the wintry season. I told him it would be useless, as there were no coals on our island. He said we had better then burn some of the orange trees. He was in a bad humour that morning, or he would never have af-

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.