very little), more appropriately than a blind man would of colors;
nevertheless, for fear of saying the wrong thing, I return to matters
which are in my department.

It has been said that his Majesty used a great quantity of tobacco, and
that in order to take it still more frequently and quickly, he put it in
a pocket of his vest, lined with skin for that purpose. This is an
error. The Emperor never took tobacco except in his snuff-boxes; and
although he wasted a great quantity of it, he really used very little, as
he took a pinch, held it to his nose simply to smell it, and let it fall
immediately. It is true that the place where he had been was covered
with it; but his handkerchiefs, irreproachable witnesses in such matters,
were scarcely stained, and although they were white and of very fine
linen, certainly bore no marks of a snuff-taker. Sometimes he simply
passed his open snuff-box under his nose in order to breathe the odor of
the tobacco it contained. These boxes were of black shell, with hinges,
and of a narrow, oval shape; they were lined with gold, and ornamented
with antique cameos, or medallions, in gold or silver. At one time he
used round tobacco-boxes; but as it took two hands to open them, and in
this operation he sometimes dropped either the box or the top, he became
disgusted with them. His tobacco was grated very coarse, and was usually
composed of several kinds of tobacco mixed together. Frequently he
amused himself by making the gazelles that he had at Saint-Cloud eat it.
They were very fond of it, and although exceedingly afraid of every one
else, came close to his Majesty without the slightest fear.

The Emperor took a fancy on one occasion, but only one, to try a pipe, as
I shall now relate. The Persian ambassador (or perhaps it was the
Turkish ambassador who came to Paris under the Consulate) had made his
Majesty a present of a very handsome pipe such as is used by the