The Emperor purchased several watches from Breguet and Meunier,—­very plain repeaters, without ornamentation or figures, the face covered with glass, the back gold.  M. Las Casas speaks of a watch with a double gold case, marked with the cipher “B,” and which never left the Emperor.  I never saw anything of the sort, though I was keeper of all the jewels, and even had in my care for several days the crown diamonds.  The Emperor often broke his watch by throwing it at random, as I have said before, on any piece of furniture in his bedroom.  He had two alarm-clocks made by Meunier, one in his carriage, the other at the head of his bed, which he set with a little green silk cord, and also a third, but it was old and wornout so that it would not work; it is this last which had belonged to Frederick the Great, and was brought from Berlin.

The swords of his Majesty were very plain, with gold mountings, and an owl on the hilt.

The Emperor had two swords similar to the one he wore the day of the battle of Austerlitz.  One of these swords was given to the Emperor Alexander, as the reader will learn later, and the other to Prince Eugene in 1814.  That which the Emperor wore at Austerlitz, and on which he afterwards had engraved the name and date of that memorable battle, was to have been inclosed in the column of the Place Vendome; but his Majesty still had it, I think, while he was at St. Helena.

He had also several sabers that he had worn in his first campaigns, and on which were engraved the names of the battles in which he had used them.  They were distributed among the various general officers of his Majesty the Emperor, of which distribution I will speak later.

When the Emperor was about to quit his capital to rejoin his army, or for a simple journey through the departments, we never knew the exact moment of his departure.  It was necessary to send in advance on various roads a complete service for the bedroom, kitchen, and stables; this sometimes waited three weeks, or even a month, and when his Majesty at length set out, that which was waiting on the road he did not take was ordered to return.  I have often thought that the Emperor acted thus in order to disconcert those who spied on his proceedings, and to baffle their schemes.

The day he was to set out no one could discover that fact from him, and everything went on as usual.  After a concert, a play, or any other amusement which had collected a large number of people, his Majesty would simply remark on retiring, “I shall leave at two o’clock!” Sometimes the time was earlier, sometimes later; but he always began his journey at the designated hour.  The order was instantly announced by each of the head servants; and all were ready at the appointed time, though the chateau was left topsy-turvy, as may be seen from the picture I have given elsewhere of the confusion at the chateau which preceded and followed the Emperor’s departure.  Wherever his Majesty lodged on the journey, before