The boatswain was a 31-year-old Irishman from County Limerick called James Manning. He had been a blacksmith before joining the navy and was short and stout with a formidably bronzed face. While they were all waiting for Lieutenant Mott to return with the barge a young midshipman sauntered up to him and said, 'Manning, this is the proudest day of your life. You are this day to do the honours of the side to the greatest man the world has ever produced or ever will produce.'
The boatswain nodded and beamed with pride.
'And along with the great Napoleon, the name of Manning the boatswain of the Bellerophon will go down to posterity. And as a relic of that great man, permit me, my dear Manning, to preserve a lock of your hair.' And with that the midshipman pulled out some of his whiskers and ran down below before anyone could stop him. The infuriated boatswain swore and hurled his hat after the midshipman which produced a half-suppressed burst of laughter from the crew on the deck.
At some time between 6 and 7 o'clock (the various accounts differ on this point) the Bellerophon's barge returned from her trip to the French brig. As she came alongside, the sailor in the bows grabbed hold of the chains hanging beside the boarding ladder, and General Bertrand climbed up the sides of the warship and appeared on deck. He was Napoleon's most valued friend and supporter, a former engineer officer who had played a major part in the invasion of Egypt, and had been appointed Grand Marshal of the Palace. He approached Captain Maitland and told him that the Emperor was in the boat. There was a pause and then a man in a greatcoat buttoned to the chin and a black cocked hat appeared at the gangway. No one watching was in any doubt who this was. For years the British cartoonists had ridiculed the figure of Napoleon, accentuating his prominent belly, his round face and aquiline nose, and they were fond of depicting him with the angry scowl of a spoilt child. The reality was startlingly different. The man who now marched briskly across the deck had a commanding presence and an unmistakable air of authority. As the high-pitched shrill of Manning's whistle died away, Napoleon climbed the short stairway to the quarterdeck. There he pulled off his hat and addressed himself to Captain Maitland. Speaking in French, with a firm tone of voice, he said, 'I am come to throw myself on the protection of your Prince and your laws.'
Captain Maitland gave a deep bow, and led him into the great cabin. Napoleon looked around and remarked that it was a handsome room. Maitland replied, 'Such as it is, Sir, it is at your service while you remain on board the ship I command.'
Seeing a portrait hanging up on one of the walls, Napoleon asked, 'Who is that young lady?'
'My wife,' said Maitland.
Ah! She is very young and very pretty.'
He went on to ask Maitland about his children and his naval service, and then said that he would like to be introduced to the ship's officers. Maitland sent for them and introduced them one by one. Napoleon wanted to know the age of each man, his rank, how long he had served in the navy and what actions he had been in. Before they left the cabin he had some flattering words for them.
'Well, gentlemen,' he said, 'you have the honour of belonging to the bravest and most fortunate nation in the world.' He then turned to Maitland and said that he would like to look round the ship. Before taking him on a tour Maitland suggested that they conduct their conversations in English as he had heard that Napoleon understood the language while he, Maitland, had difficulty in expressing himself in French. That would be impossible, Napoleon told him, as he hardly understood a word of English. Maitland later wrote that the problem was that Napoleon spoke too fast for him to follow his meaning but after a few days he got used to this and was able to understand him perfectly. In the meantime they seem to have coped admirably, no doubt assisted by members of Napoleon's party who acted as interpreters. They certainly managed to conduct a most interesting conversation as they toured the ship.
Napoleon had never been on a British man-of-war before and was fascinated by every aspect of the ship and her crew. He particularly wanted to find out why British ships were able to beat the French with such ease. He pointed out that the finest warships in the British Navy were French, and that French ships were bigger, had larger crews, and carried more guns, and guns of a larger calibre than their British equivalents. Was it due to the quality of the British seamen who were so smartly turned out and were surely a different class of people from French seamen? Maitland said that he did not wish to take away from the merit of the British seamen but the key lay in the superior experience of the officers. British ships were constantly at sea and the officers were able to train up their crews in a way not possible for the French crews who were forced to spend most of their time in port. Napoleon had heard from some French sailors who had been detained on the Bellerophon for a few days, and then put ashore on the Ile d'Aix, that Maitland frequently carried out gunnery practice and trained his men to fire at a mark.
'I did so because I considered it of the greatest importance,' said Maitland, and added that if the French frigates had attempted to put to sea he would have had an opportunity to observe the effect of it. Napoleon thought that two frigates with 24-pounders on their main decks were surely a match for a 74-gun ship, and he asked whether Maitland thought they would have been successful if they had attempted to force a passage past the Bellerophon. Maitland thought it unlikely because, as he explained in some detaiclass="underline"
the fire of a two-deck ship was so much more compact, and carried such an immense weight of iron, in proportion to that of a frigate, and there was so much difficulty in bringing two or three ships to act with effect at the same time upon one, that I scarcely considered three frigates a match for one line-of-battle ship; that with respect to forcing a passage past the Bellerophon, it must have depended greatly on accident, but the chances were very much against it; as the frigates would have had to beat out against the wind for three or four leagues, through a narrow passage, exposed to the fire of a seventy-four gun ship, which, from being to windward, would have had the power of taking the position most advantageous to herself.
At 9 o'clock they sat down for an English-style breakfast of tea, coffee and cold meats. Napoleon ate very little and when Maitland learnt that he was used to a hot meal in the morning he arranged that, in future, Napoleon's cook should prepare his meals, 'and after that we always lived in the French fashion, as far as I could effect that object'. At 10.30 the Superb sailed into the roadstead and dropped anchor nearby. Maitland immediately went across in a boat to report to Sir Henry Hotham. He was greatly relieved to find that the Admiral approved of his actions and thought it appropriate that the Bellerophon should be the ship which carried Napoleon to England.
The afternoon was spent loading on board the former emperor's baggage and at 5 o'clock the first of many grand dinners took place in the stern of the ship. The meal was prepared by Napoleon's kitchen staff and they ate off the imperial silver plate. Maitland noted that Napoleon conducted himself in the manner of royalty: he led the party into the dining-room, seated himself in the centre at one side of the table, and placed Sir Henry Hotham on his right, Countess Bertrand on his left and Captain Maitland opposite him. Cups of strong coffee were served when they had finished dinner, and Napoleon invited all those present to join him in the after-cabin. There he asked his valet Marchand to show them his camp-bed. This was an ingenious folding bed which he had used on many of his military campaigns. From two leather cases Marchand took out the steel bedstead, the mattress and green silk curtains and within three minutes he had erected a small but elegant bed. Before leaving the ship Hotham invited Napoleon, together with the ladies and his principal officers, to join him for breakfast the next day.