We entered the road of Porto Ferrajo[34], without any difficulty, at the moment when the cannon fired, announcing that the harbour was about to close. I heard the French drums sounding the roll: my heart beat high: I passed the night on the deck of the boat. Notwithstanding the joy which I felt at my arrival, I could not help indulging in a certain degree of melancholy, inspired, perhaps, by the silence of the night, and the aspect of the arid and gloomy mountains which surrounded me. Ah, how vain is human grandeur! thought I. The air of that sterile islet is breathed by that incomprehensible man who lately felt that he had not breathing room in Europe. It is in that humble hovel that he now dwells with his scanty train of faithful followers; He whom I have seen in the palace of the Cæsars, receiving the homage and the worship of the most brilliant court in the world; He whom I have seen sitting covered, whilst eight Kings stood before him with their hats in their hands. It is over this little tribe alone, not exceeding the population of a village, that Napoleon the Great is now doomed to reign! Napoleon the Great! He who endowed the thrones of his allies with the leavings of his conquests--He who so long was the master and the terror of the universe!
[Footnote 34: I had believed, according to the statements in the ministerial journals, that the sea was covered by French and English ships, by which all vessels and passengers, proceeding to the island, were intercepted. I did not meet with a single ship of this description. The ports were placed under a "surveillance," equally brutal and tyrannical, but the sea was free. All vessels went in and out of Porto Ferrajo without experiencing the slightest obstacle.]
The sun rose, and put an end to my musings. My joy was inexpressible when I recognized on the ramparts those old grenadiers whom I had so often admired and honoured on the field of battle.