William Wallingford Knollys, Dictionary of National Biography… (1895)
“ During the passage from Rochefort to Plymouth Bonaparte was attracted by his power of speaking Italian, and, when his own surgeon, Mengeaud, declined to follow him into exile, he asked that O'Meara should be allowed to accompany him to St. Helena as his medical attendant. The admiralty readily permitted him to join the emperor. Napoleon seems to have felt little confidence in his medical skill, but treated him with greater friendliness than was agreeable to Montholon, Las Cases, and other members of his suite. ”
