Helena

(he-le'nah,) the name of several female saints of the Catholic Church, the most celebrated of whom in life was the Empre H., wife of Constant i us Chlorus, and mother of Const an tine the Great. At the age of 80 she went to Palestine, where she a isted in the discovery of the Holy Cro . D. 326 or 328. Helena, (St.,) (he-le'nah,) an isolated and mountainous island in the S. Atlantic Ocean, 800 m. W. of Ascension, and 1200 from the nearest point of the African mainland,in S. Lat. 15° 30', and W. Lon. 4° 46'. Area, 47 sq. m. Its coasts are iron-bound, presenting only a ravine here and there which communicates with the sea-shore. The chief of these is St. Jaines' Valley, on the N.W. side, at the sea-extremity of which is James town, the only port on the island and the residence of the colonial authorities. The temperature is generally 80°. This solitary island owes its historic celebrity to the forced residence of Napoleon I. under British guardianship, from 1815 till 1821, in which latter year he D. at Long wood, the place of his confinement. Discovered byJuan de Nova Castella in 1501 (on St. Helena's Day), it was afterward held by the Dutch till 1673, when the English took po e ion of it. Pop. 6,444. [s. 446]