Helena, Saint

An island in the Atlantic Ocean, which presents to the sea, throughout its whole circuit, an immense wall of perpendicular rock, from 600 to 1200 feet high. This island was discovered by the Portuguese in 1502, and belonged to the Dutch from 1610 to 1650, when it fell into the hands of the British. It is chiefly famous for having been the place in which Napoleon I. was confined by the allied powers after his final overthrow at the battle of Waterloo. Here he lived at Long wood, from November, 1815, till his death in 1821. His remains also lay here till 1840, when, by the permi ion of the English government, they were conveyed to France.