For this laborious attempt it was absolutely necessary to procure
additional forces, and a party of Chinese, of whom there are many on the
island, was engaged to help them. These people were much amused at
Napoleon's working-dress, which was a jacket and large trousers, with an
enormous straw hat to shield him from the sun, and sandals. He pitied
those poor fellows who suffered from the heat of the sun, and made each
of them a present of a large hat like his own. After much exertion the
basin was finished, the pipes laid, and the water began to flow into it.
Napoleon stocked his pond with gold-fish, which he placed in it with his
own hands. He would remain by the pond for hours together, at a time
when he was so weak that he could hardly support himself. He would amuse
himself by following the motion of the fishes, throwing bread to them,
studying their ways, taking an interest in their loves and their
quarrels, and endeavouring with anxiety to find out points of resemblance
between their motives and those of mankind. He often sent for his
attendants to communicate his remarks to them, and directed their
observations to any peculiarities he had observed. His favourites at
last sickened, they struggled, floated on the water, and died one after
another. He was deeply affected by this, and remarked to Antommarchi,
"You see very well that there is a fatality attached to me. Everything I
love, everything that belongs to me, is immediately struck: heaven and
mankind unite to persecute me." From this time he visited them daily in
spite of sickness or bad weather, nor did his anxiety diminish until it
was discovered that a coppery cement, with which the bottom of the basin
was plastered, had poisoned the water. The fish which were not yet dead
were then taken out and put into a tub.

Napoleon appears to have taken peculiar interest in observing the
instincts of animals, and comparing their practices and propensities with