moment of departure, sent a message by General Becker himself to the Provisional Government, offering to march as a private citizen at the head of the troops.  He promised to repulse Blucher, and afterwards to continue his route.  Upon the refusal of the Provisional Government he quitted Malmaison on the 29th.  Napoleon and part of his suite took the road to Rochefort.  He slept at Rambouillet on the 29th of June, on the 30th at Tours, on the 1st of July he arrived at Niort, and on the 3d reached Rochefort, on the western coast of France, with the intention of escaping to America; but the whole western seaboard was so vigilantly watched by British men-of-war that, after various plans and devices, he was obliged to abandon the attempt in despair.  He was lodged at the house of the prefect, at the balcony of which he occasionally showed himself to acknowledge the acclamations of the people.

During his stay here a French naval officer, commanding a Danish merchant vessel, generously offered to some of Napoleon’s adherents to further his escape.  He proposed to take Napoleon alone, and undertook to conceal his person so effectually as to defy the most rigid scrutiny, and offered to sail immediately to the United States of America.  He required no other compensation than a small sum to indemnify the owners of his ship for the loss this enterprise might occasion them.  This was agreed to by Bertrand upon certain stipulations.

On the evening of the 8th of July Napoleon reached Fouras, receiving everywhere testimonies of attachment.  He proceeded on board the Saale, one of the two frigates appointed by the Provisional Government to convey him to the United States, and slept on board that night.  Very early on the following morning he visited the fortifications of that place, and returned to the frigate for dinner.  On the evening of the 9th of July he despatched Count Las Cases and the Duke of Rovigo to the commander of the English squadron, for the purpose of ascertaining whether the passports promised by the Provisional Government to enable him to proceed to America had been received.  A negative answer was returned; it was at the same time signified that the Emperor would be attacked by the English squadron if he attempted to sail under a flag of truce, and it was intimated that every neutral vessel would be examined, and probably sent into an English port.  Las Cases affirms that Napoleon was recommended to proceed to England by Captain Maitland, who assured him that he would experience no ill-treatment there.  The English ship ‘Bellerophon’ then anchored in the Basque roads, within sight of the French vessels of war.  The coast being, as we have stated, entirely blockaded by the English squadron, the Emperor was undecided as to the course he should pursue.  Neutral vessels and ‘chasse-marees’, manned by young naval officers, were proposed, and many other plans were devised.

Napoleon disembarked on the 12th at the Isle of Aix with acclamations ringing on every side.  He had quitted the frigates because they refused to sail, owing either to the weakness of character of the commandant, or in consequence of his receiving fresh orders from the Provisional Government.  Many persons thought that the enterprise might be undertaken with some probability of success; the wind, however, remained constantly in the wrong quarter.