Salvaleon de Higueey, the easternmost city of the Republic, situated 31 miles southeast of Seibo, was also founded by Juan de Esquivel in the days of Ovando. Its church contains a picture of Our Lady of Altagracia, to which miracles are ascribed and which attracts pilgrims from all parts of Santo Domingo and Haiti.

Other towns are Hato Mayor, 18 miles west of Seibo; Ramon Santana, formerly called Guaza, 19 miles south-west of Seibo; La Romana, on the coast 25 miles south of Seibo, with rapidly expanding sugar estates; and El Jovero, a hamlet on the coast near the eastern end of Samana Bay.



PROVINCE OF SAMANA

Santa Barbara de Samana, 78 miles northeast of the capital of the Republic, is built on a cove on the north side of Samana Bay. The protected character of the inlet made it a favorite resort for pirates in the seventeenth century, and beginning with 1673, French buccaneers made several attempts to settle here but were driven out by the Spanish authorities. The town was definitely settled in 1756 by families from the Canary Islands. In the town and neighborhood live many English-speaking negroes, descendants of those who were brought from the United States by the Haitian President Boyer about 1825.

A larger town is Sanchez at the western end of Samana Bay, twenty-five miles from the town of Samana. In 1886 there was here a tiny hamlet, known as Las Canitas, but on becoming the terminus of the railroad from La Vega, the name of Sanchez, a hero of Dominican independence, was given it, and the town rapidly grew in size. Its dwellings are scattered over two ridges of land divided by a deep valley. On one of the ridges the houses are pretty one-story buildings with gardens in front. The beautiful grounds surrounding the house of the general manager of the Samana-Santiago Railroad are situated on a height overlooking the sparkling expanse of Samana Bay and give a suggestion of the possibilities of landscape gardening in Santo Domingo. Colored families from St. Thomas and the British West Indies and descendants of American negroes make up a considerable proportion of the population, so that more English is heard here than Spanish.

On the south side of Samana Bay is the small village of Sabana de la Mar, commonly known as Sabana la Mar, founded by Canary Islanders in 1756. There are many stories of pirates' buried gold in this region.



PROVINCE OF PACIFICADOR

San Francisco de Macoris, the capital of the province, is about 85 miles northwest of Santo Domingo City and occupies the site of a fort established by Ovando in 1504 and known as the fort of La Magdalena. It was founded in 1774 around a chapel dedicated to St. Ann which stood on a ranch called San Francisco. Lying in a fertile district formerly devoted to tobacco and now one of the chief cacao regions of the island, it is a town of considerable business. It is also called Macoris del Norte, to distinguish it from San Pedro de Macoris, which is called Macoris del Este.

Villa Rivas, on the Samana-Santiago Railroad, 19 miles from Samana bay, was formerly called Almacen, or Storehouse, because here was situated, before the railroad was built, a warehouse for the storage of merchandise imported and exported by way of Samana and the Yuna river.

The other towns, all of recent foundation, are Matanzas, a fishing village on the edge of a cacao district on the northeast coast, and three villages named after heroes of the War of Restoration: Cabrera on the coast at Tres Amarras point; Castillo, 8 miles west of Rivas; and Pimentel, formerly called Barbero, a station on the Samana-Santiago Railroad and the center of an important cacao zone.



PROVINCE OF LA VEGA

Concepcion de la Vega, capital of the province and one of the most important cities of the Royal Plain, is 90 miles from Santo Domingo City. The old town of Concepcion de la Vega was founded by Columbus in 1495 at the foot of the eminence known as Santo Cerro and at the place of residence of the Indian chief Guarionex. It quickly attained such importance that in 1508 it was declared a city and endowed with a coat of arms, and in the same year a bishopric was erected there, which was, however, in 1527 merged with the bishopric of Santo Domingo. An earthquake overthrew its fine buildings in 1564 and the city was thereupon relocated at a distance of three miles on the bank of the Camu. The site of the old city is now private property and is overgrown with tropical vegetation. Moss-grown foundation walls protrude from the ground; a mass of brickwork some twenty feet high and having the form of a blockhouse chimney remains of the old church; and part of the circular tower erected at the corner of the fort of Columbus, well provided with loop-holes for muskets, still remains standing. In desultory excavations made at different times small objects such as ancient spurs, stirrups and coins have been found.

The new city led a languishing existence until it became the interior terminus of the Samana-Santiago Railroad which gave it a great impetus. It is regularly laid out, the streets are fairly wide and a majority of the houses are built of brick. The city has a pretty plaza laid out as a garden, a new market building, a theater, and like every other town of importance in Santo Domingo, a club. At the entrance to the town is a bronze statue of Gregorio Rivas, a progressive merchant and philanthropist of this region, who died twenty years ago.

The feature of the city which attracts the traveler's attention unfavorably is the neglect of the city streets. During the dry season the lack of pavements does not matter but when the rains come the rich loam turns to a deep black mud. Along most streets there are narrow sidewalks, but where there are none, or where it is necessary to cross to the other side, the mode of progress is by hop, skip and jump from one dry place to another—the religion of the virtuous pedestrian being put to a severe test when after a strenuous jump he lands in a muddy place up to his shoe tops. At some crossings thoughtful storekeepers lay a plank of salvation for the passer-by. The city is a great center for cacao, tobacco and coffee, and several sawmills are kept busy cutting up pine logs from the surrounding hills.

Cotui, about 31 miles southeast of La Vega, was founded by order of Ovando in 1505, being called Las Minas in the early days because of the mines of gold, copper and other metals in the neighborhood. Bonao, about 26 miles south of La Vega, was founded by order of Columbus in 1496 to protect the mines in the nearby mountains and was the scene of Roldan's revolt against Columbus. Both of these towns almost disappeared when the colony declined and are now humble villages.

Other villages are Jarabacoa, 18 miles southwest of La Vega; Constanza, 30 miles southwest of La Vega and rarely visited by strangers because of its isolation among the mountains, near the beautiful valley of Constanza; Cevicos, also hidden in the mountains, 12 miles southeast of Cotui; and Santo Cerro, 3 miles north of La Vega, on a hill which commands a magnificent view of the Royal Plain.



PROVINCE OF ESPAILLAT

Moca, also called Espaillat, 100 miles northwest of Santo Domingo City, is a thriving city. It was the scene of the "Moca massacre" in 1805, when the Haitian general Christophe, having guaranteed the safety of the inhabitants, induced them to return from their hiding places in the mountains and assemble in the church to the number of five hundred in order to hold a mass of thanksgiving, whereupon they were massacred by the Haitian soldiers. In more recent history it has been taken and retaken many times during revolutions and in 1899 was the scene of the killing of President Heureaux. Its houses are mostly one story in height and many are built of brick, while picturesque huts of the poor surround the town. Gutters have been constructed in the principal streets, but the possibilities of paving have by no means been exhausted. The town sustains two churches, one on the outskirts, and another with a peculiar square tower, on the plaza. The inhabitants take pride in their pretty flower-grown plaza and in the elaborate portal of their cemetery.

The other town of the province is Salcedo, formerly called Juana Nunez, 7 miles east of Moca in a rich cacao district.



PROVINCE OF SANTIAGO

Santiago de los Caballeros, Santiago of the Gentlemen, 115 miles northwest of Santo Domingo, was founded as a military station on a bluff of the Yaque River about 1497 by order of Bartholomew Columbus, and settled in 1504 by thirty knights, from which circumstance it derives its name. It received many settlers from the old town of Isabela, was given a coat of arms in 1508, reached a flourishing state, and was destroyed in 1564 by the same earthquake which overthrew La Vega. Its inhabitants then removed to the present site, about six miles east of the location of the old city, the ruins of which are still to be seen. The city was burned three times by the French buccaneers during their struggles with the Spanish colonial authorities and later by the Haitian general Christophe on the occasion of the retreat of the emperor Dessalines in 1805. It had again attained importance when it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1842. Once more it was reduced to ashes in 1863 at the outbreak of the War of the Restoration. To-day Santiago is one of the richest and most flourishing cities of the island and has aspirations to become the capital of the Republic, so that an intense rivalry exists with Santo Domingo. The streets are regular and clean and a general repair has been commenced. There are important business houses and well-stocked bazaars and the market place is one of the busiest in the country.

The plaza in the center of the city has a handsome garden established by popular subscription, and gay with flowers and palms. Two churches are on the plaza, the larger of which has a beautiful altar. The remains of President Heureaux are buried here, his resting place being marked by a marble slab with the Dominican coat of arms. The government palace fronting on the plaza is a substantial affair with walls dating from Haitian times, and the city hall, also fronting on the plaza, is a fine structure. In the cemetery there is a street of beautiful mausoleums, the architecture of several being Egyptian in style and others bearing medallions or recumbent figures of the deceased. The volunteer fire corps of Santiago has a special lot and a pretty monument. San Jose de las Matas, 24 miles southwest of Santiago, is situated on a high plain in the midst of the mountains and is surrounded by great pine forests. Its salubrious climate and picturesque environments make it a favorite summer resort for wealthy families of Santiago, Puerto Plata and Moca, and a health resort for persons afflicted with stomach or lung trouble. Nearby are hot and cold sulphur springs, the beautiful Inoa waterfall, the picturesque confluence of the Amina and Inoa rivers and the high Rubio Peak, which commands one of the finest panoramas in the island.

Other towns are Valverde, formerly Mao, 30 miles northwest of Santiago; Janico, 14 miles southwest of Santiago, Esperanza, 27 miles northwest of Santiago; and Canton Pena, also called Tamboril, 7 miles east of Santiago and having such close social relations with that city as to be regarded as a suburb of the same.



PROVINCE OF PUERTO PLATA

Puerto Plata, 150 miles northwest of Santo Domingo, is the most important port of the north of the Republic. Columbus is said to have made the plans for the streets of the town; as early as 1499 there were settlers here; and in 1502 the city was formally founded by order of Ovando. It enjoyed prosperity during the first years of the colony, but in 1543 was attacked by pirates and thereafter rapidly went to decay. The stringent laws which restricted the commerce of the island to certain ports of the mother country encouraged contraband trade and the place became the headquarters for smugglers. The government endeavored to stop smuggling in 1606 by the brilliant expedient of destroying the town and moving all the inhabitants to Monte Plata, far in the interior of Santo Domingo province. In 1750 Puerto Plata was populated anew and shared with Monte Cristi the advantage of the law permitting free trade for ten years. It rapidly grew in population until it became the most important commercial point of the Republic, and the port of the entire Cibao region, part of which now finds an outlet at Sanchez. It was in a flourishing state and had fine houses when it was totally destroyed by fire in 1863, during the War of Restoration, whether by the Spaniards or the Dominicans remains in doubt. Prosperity again followed, many foreigners were attracted by its commercial possibilities and to-day it is again one of the most thriving towns of Santo Domingo.

The first thing to attract the traveler's notice is the excellent condition of the city streets. Though the macadamized streets and the sidewalks are narrow, they are clean, well kept and well lighted at night. In streets, schools and public squares the city is in advance of most of the other cities of the Republic. This is attributed to a great extent to the presence of many cultured foreigners as well as to the progressive natives. The inhabitants of Puerto Plata boast that what Puerto Plata does the rest of the Republic does. They point as an example to their plaza. Formerly the plaza of Dominican cities was a bare, shadeless tract of ground in the center of the city. Puerto Plata was the first to plant trees, lay out a garden and provide its plaza with a music stand. This plaza in the center of the town is the oldest and prettiest of the city's three public squares and is now shaded by large, leafy trees and embellished with beautiful flowers and varicolored bushes. On Sunday nights on this plaza and on Thursday nights on one of the others, band concerts attract crowds of people, young and old, who promenade to the strains of the music. The belles of the city are very handsome and owing to the intermarriage of natives with foreigners from all parts of the world widely different types of beauty are to be observed at such concerts.

On one side of the principal plaza is the church, on another stand side by side the theater, the government building, where the provincial offices are located, and the city hall, on the first floor of which is a well-attended school. The three principal clubs of the city are also located in commodious quarters fronting on this plaza. One of these clubs counts among its members most of the merchants and staid and elderly people, another is the club of the young men and a third is the ladies' club. The ladies' club is open only in the afternoon and evening, but in the clubs frequented by gentlemen games of billiards may be seen going on at almost any hour of the day.

The buildings of the city are all of modern date. Only a few foundation walls near the ocean shore, and the old fort, remain from former days. The old fort is situated on the point of land partly enclosing Puerto Plata harbor and is surrounded on three sides by buildings of the present fort. It is a large round whitewashed structure having the appearance of a huge cheesebox; its walls are of enormous thickness and it is now used as a jail. In former days the inhabitants had much difficulty in obtaining drinking water, but Puerto Plata was the first city to be provided with a general system of water works, having been followed only recently by Santiago. The water is brought from a stream a little over a mile away. The ride there is a beautiful one but it goes to prove that the movement for good thoroughfares has not yet extended to the roads. From all parts of Puerto Plata Mt. Isabel de Torres is seen towering behind the city. The view obtained from the slopes of the mountain, over miles of shoreline and a broad expanse of ocean, is of indescribable grandeur.

The traveler who visits Puerto Plata carries away with him pleasant memories of the clean city, its comfortable clubs, its hospitable citizens and its beautiful surroundings.

Other towns of the province are Altamira, 18 miles southwest of Puerto Plata, astride a hill rising in the middle of a valley of the coast range of mountains; Blanco, on the coast 20 miles northwest of Puerto Plata and 10 miles east of the site of Isabela, the first city in the new world; and Bajabonico, 10 miles southwest of Puerto Plata, a village called into being by the building of the Central Dominican Railroad.



PROVINCE OF MONTE CRISTI

San Fernando de Monte Cristi, 196 miles northwest of Santo Domingo City, the capital of Monte Cristi province, was founded during the government of Ovando by sixty Spanish families, and after giving promise of prosperity decayed with the rest of the colony. It was supported for a time by a brisk contraband trade which sprang up with the Dutch and other nations and to put a stop to which the town was destroyed in 1606 like Puerto Plata and the inhabitants transferred to Monte Plata, to the south of the central mountain range. In 1750 a royal dispensation granted it the right to free trade with all nations for a period of ten years and it began to attain prominence as a port, but the wars with the Haitians, the War of Restoration with the Spaniards and the many civil wars have retarded its progress. Only in the last few years has it received a new impetus. The town is built about a mile from the shore, with which it is connected by a tiny horse car. About thirty houses are connected with a private system of waterworks which supplies water from the Yaque river. Situated as it is in the arid region of Santo Domingo the city bears much resemblance to some of the western towns of the United States.

Other towns are Guayubin, 24 miles, Sabaneta, 36 miles, and Moncion, 46 miles southeast of Monte Cristi; and Dajabon, 22 miles, Restauracion, 40 miles, and Copey, 12 miles southwest of Monte Cristi. They are all small villages. Dajabon, founded towards the middle of the eighteenth century, is situated on the east bank of the Massacre river, which constitutes the Haitian boundary, and is one of the inland ports of entry. Restauracion is peopled largely by French speaking negroes from Haiti.



PROVINCE OF AZUA

Azua de Compostela, about 83 miles west of Santo Domingo City, was founded by Diego de Velazquez in 1504 at a point four miles southwest of its present location. It was first called Compostela after a Galician official who held some property here, but the Indian name of the region prevailed. Hernando Cortez, later the conqueror of Mexico, settled here and for some five years was the notary of the town. At first prosperous, the city soon suffered a serious decline, but was beginning to revive when on August 18, 1751, it was entirely destroyed by an earthquake. The inhabitants then transferred the town to its present location on the western bank of the Via River. The ruins of the old city are still visible near the hamlet called Pueblo Viejo, Old Town. Azua was destroyed by fire three times in the Haitian wars: in 1805, by order of the Haitian emperor Dessalines, in 1844 by President Herard, and in 1849 by President Soulouque. To-day it is the most important town in the southwestern part of the Republic. Situated in an arid region, like Monte Cristi, it is similar to many a town in New Mexico and Arizona, with hot, sunny, shadeless streets beginning and ending in space, one story houses, a great plain of dark green beyond the town and purple mountains in the distance. The houses here are of wood or stone and with thatched or zinc roofs. There is a large new church, the images in which seem to be very old and do not distinguish themselves for beauty. The town is about three miles inland from the port, but a branch of a narrow gauge plantation railroad connects the city with the wharf and on steamer days a passenger car makes several trips. Azua is famous throughout Santo Domingo for its excellent "dulce de leche," a kind of milk taffy, which is well made elsewhere in the Republic, but is better in Azua as it is here prepared from goat's milk.

San Juan de la Maguana, 48 miles northwest of Azua, was founded in 1504 by Diego Velazquez in the beautiful Maguana valley where the Indian chief Caonabo had his residence, became almost extinct in 1606, but revived in 1764 with the establishment of new cattle ranches in the vicinity. During the Haitian wars it was burned repeatedly. Near the town is a curious relic of Indian times called Anacaona's circus or "el corral de los Indios," consisting of large stones laid in a huge circle, and in the center a strange cylindrical stone, carved with Indian figures, which is supposed to have served as the throne of the Indian queen Anacaona.

Las Matas de Farfan, 64 miles northwest of Azua, was established in 1780 and suffered greatly during the wars with the Haitians. Like the other villages of the Maguana valley its chief industry is stockraising. Banica, 75 miles northwest of Azua, on the Haitian frontier, was one of the towns established by Diego Velazquez in 1504. Though an important town in the early days it decayed, and in the beginning of the nineteenth century was abandoned entirely. During Haitian rule it was reestablished, but upon the declaration of Dominican independence was again abandoned for fear of Haitian vengeance, remaining so until the War of Restoration during which it was settled anew.

Other villages are San Jose de Ocoa, also known as Maniel, 18 miles northeast of Azua, founded in 1844 in a picturesque region; Tubano, 34 miles northwest of Azua; El Cercado, 12 miles southwest of Las Matas de Farfan; and Comendador, near the Haitian frontier, 13 miles west of Las Matas de Farfan, the seat of one of the inland custom-houses.

Dominican writers include among the towns pertaining to the Province of Azua those situated in that part of the territory of the former Spanish colony which is now held by Haiti. The principal towns in this territory are Lares de Guajaba or Hincha, to-day called Hinche, which was founded in 1504 and was the birthplace of General Pedro Santana; Las Caobas, founded about the middle of the eighteenth century; San Miguel de la Atalaya, to-day called St. Michel, founded about the same time; and San Rafael de la Angostura, called St. Raphael by the Haitians.



PROVINCE OF BARAHONA

Barahona, 126 miles west of Santo Domingo City, became capital of the Barahona district when a provincial government was established there in 1881. It is a small town, which began to be settled in the beginning of the nineteenth century, and suffered greatly during the Haitian wars and the revolutions following them. At present its fame is its fine coffee.

Other towns are Enriquillo, formerly called Petitru (Petit Trou) on the coast 22 miles south of Barahona; Neiba, 32 miles northwest of Barahona, founded a century ago and prevented from developing by the damages it sustained first in the Haitian, then in the civil wars; and Duverge, formerly called Las Damas, which commands a fine view of Lake Enriquillo with Cabras Island in the distance. In the northwest corner of the province is the small collection of huts called Tierra Nueva, and a few miles beyond, isolated in a wild region on the frontier, the inland customhouse of Las Lajas.



CHAPTER XVII

THE REMAINS OF COLUMBUS

Burial of Columbus.—Disappearance of epitaph.—Removal of remains in 1795.—Discovery of remains in 1877.—Resting place of Discoverer of America.

The greatest pride of the Dominican people is that they are the custodians of the mortal remains of Christopher Columbus. The same honor is claimed by Spain, but a Dominican would consider it almost treasonable to doubt the justice of the Dominican claim. It is a strange freak of fate that not only should the great navigator have been denied in life the rewards promised him, not only should the new world he discovered have been given the name of another, but that his very tomb is a matter of controversy. It is admitted that after his death in Spain his remains were transferred to Santo Domingo City and there deposited in the cathedral. In 1795, when the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo was ceded to France, the Spaniards carried with them to Cuba what they supposed were the remains of Columbus, and these were in 1898 taken to Spain, but in the year 1877 another casket was brought to light in the Santo Domingo cathedral, with inscriptions which indicated that it contained the bones of the great Discoverer.

It was the desire of Columbus to be buried in Santo Domingo, his favorite island. In his will, executed shortly before his death, he called on his son Diego to found, if possible, a chapel dedicated to the Holy Trinity, "and if this can be in the Island of Espanola, I should like to have it there where I invoked the Trinity, which is in La Vega, named Concepcion." Columbus died on May 20, 1506, in Valladolid and his body was deposited in the church of Santa Maria de la Antigua in that city. In 1513, or perhaps before, it was transferred to the Carthusian monastery of Santa Maria de las Cuevas in Seville, where was also deposited the body of his son Diego, who died in 1526. Diego Columbus, in his will of the year 1523, stated that he had been unable to carry out his father's wishes, but requested his heirs to found in the city of Santo Domingo, inasmuch as La Vega was losing population, a nunnery dedicated to St. Clara, the sanctuary of which was to be the burial place of the Columbus family. His plans were modified in favor of a nobler mausoleum and his widow, Maria de Toledo, in the name of her son Louis Columbus, applied to the king of Spain for the sanctuary of the cathedral of Santo Domingo as a burial place for her husband, his father and his heirs, which grant the king made in 1537 and reiterated in 1539. A difference having arisen with the bishop of Santo Domingo, who wished to reserve the higher platform of the sanctuary for the interment of prelates and cede only the lower portion to the Columbus family, the king in 1540 again reiterated his concession of the whole sanctuary. According to the annals of the Carthusian monastery of Seville, the bodies of Christopher Columbus and his son were taken away in 1536, and it is probable that they were deposited in the cathedral of Santo Domingo in 1540 or 1541, after the issue of the king's third order and the conclusion of the work on the cathedral. Where they were during the intervening four or five years and in what year they were brought to Santo Domingo, is not known. Las Casas, writing in 1544, states that the remains of the Admiral were at that time buried in the sanctuary of the cathedral of Santo Domingo. In the year 1572 Louis Columbus, the grandson of the Discoverer, died in Oran, in Africa, and his remains were taken to the Carthusian monastery in Seville. It is not known when they were brought to Santo Domingo, but the transfer probably took place in the beginning of the seventeenth century.

The early records of the Santo Domingo cathedral were burnt at the time of Drake's invasion in 1586, and those since that year have been so damaged by the ravages of tropical insects that little is left of them. They make little and only passing reference to the tomb of Columbus, and mention no monument or inscription whatever. Juan de Castellanos, in his book "Varones Ilustres de Indias," printed in 1589, recites a Latin epitaph which he says appeared near the place where lay the body of Columbus in Seville, but pretty Latin epitaphs were Castellanos' weakness, and it is to be feared that this one, like others which he dedicated to American explorers, was nothing more than a figment of his poetic imagination. Two writers, Coleti and Alcedo, who almost two centuries later mentioned the same epitaph as marking the grave in Santo Domingo, must have copied from Castellanos.

Undoubtedly there was at first some inscription to mark the tomb, but in the course of the years any slabs with inscriptions were permitted to disappear entirely from the graves of Columbus, his son and grandson, and the very existence of their remains in the cathedral became a matter of tradition. It is possible that the epitaphs disappeared at some time when the pavement of the church was renewed, or when damages inflicted by earthquake shocks were repaired, or when changes were made in the windows and doors about the main altar, or when the higher altar platform was extended to reach the desks on which lie the Gospels and Epistles. At any such times the slabs over the burial vaults may have been broken or laid aside and never replaced. It is also possible that they were intentionally removed in order to guard against profanation of the tombs by enemies in time of war or by West Indian pirates, who captured and sacked stronger cities than Santo Domingo. In 1655 when an English fleet under Admiral William Penn appeared before the city and landed an army under General Venables, there was great excitement and fear in Santo Domingo, and the archbishop ordered that the sacred ornaments and vessels be hidden and that "the sepulchres be covered in order that no irreverence or profanation be committed against them by the heretics, and especially do I so request with reference to the sepulchre of the old Admiral which is on the gospel side of my holy church and sanctuary," That other tombs were hidden, whether at this time or another, was shown in 1879, when, on repairing the flooring in the chapel of the "stone bishop" in the cathedral, the slab indicating the grave of the Adelantado Rodrigo de Bastidas, the explorer, was found concealed under a stone, and it was discovered that the epitaph of Bastidas on a board which from time immemorial had hung on the wall of the chapel was an incorrect copy of the original graven on the burial slab. From the words of the archbishop it appears possible that the sepulchre of Columbus was marked in some way in 1655, although even then there may have been nothing, since the prelate saw fit to specify the point in the church where the tomb was situated.

The first document in which tradition appears invoked for designating the burial place is the record of a synod held in 1683, which contains the following clause: "this Island having been discovered by Christopher Columbus, illustrious and very celebrated throughout the world, whose bones repose in a leaden box in the sanctuary next to the pedestal of the main altar of this our cathedral, with those of his brother Louis Columbus which are on the other side, according to the tradition of the old people of this Island." The synod and tradition were not strong in Columbus genealogy when they referred to Louis Columbus as the brother instead of the grandson of the Discoverer, and it is noticeable that no mention is made of the son Diego Columbus. It may be remarked, in passing, that the body of Bartholomew Columbus, brother of the Admiral, was deposited in the convent of San Francisco in Santo Domingo, upon his death in 1514, and while some writers suggest it may have been taken to Spain, there is nothing to indicate that it was ever given sepulture in the cathedral of Santo Domingo.

After the lapse of another century tradition referred to two sepulchres, one of Christopher Columbus, on the right side of the altar, the other of his brother or son, on the left side of the altar. Moreau de Saint-Mery, a French diplomat and statesman, who lived in the French colony of St. Domingue for some years during the decade of 1780 to 1790, in his book "Description de la partie espagnole de l'isle Saint-Domingue" states that, being desirous of obtaining accurate information with reference to the tomb of Columbus, he addressed himself to Jose Solano, an ex-governor of the colony, then in command of a fleet in the insular waters; that this official wrote a letter to his successor in the governorship, Isidoro Peralta, and that he received the following answer:

"SANTO DOMINGO, March 29, 1783.

"My very dear friend and patron:

"I have received the kind letter of Your Excellency of the 13th of this month, and did not answer immediately in order to have time to ascertain the details it requests relative to Christopher Columbus, and also in order to enjoy the satisfaction of serving Your Excellency as far as is in my power and to permit Your Excellency to have the satisfaction of obliging the friend who has asked for those details.

"With respect to Christopher Columbus, although the insects destroy the papers in this country and have converted whole archives into lace-work, I hope nevertheless to remit to Your Excellency the proof that the bones of Columbus are in a leaden box, enclosed in a stone box which is buried in the sanctuary on the side of the gospels and that those of Bartholomew Columbus, his brother, repose on the side of the epistles in the same manner and under the same precautions. Those of Christopher Columbus were transported from Seville, where they had been deposited in the pantheon of the dukes of Alcala after having been taken there from Valladolid, and where they remained until their transport here.

"About two months ago, in working in the church, a piece of thick wall was thrown down and immediately reconstructed. This fortuitous event was the occasion of finding the box of which I have spoken, and which, although without inscriptions, was known, according to a constant and invariable tradition, to contain the remains of Columbus. In addition I am having a search made to see whether in the church archives or those of the government some document can be found which will furnish details on this point; and the canons have seen and stated that the greater part of the bones were reduced to dust and that bones of the forearm had been distinguished.

"I send Your Excellency also a list of all the archbishops which this island has had and which is more interesting than that of its presidents, for I am assured that the first is complete, while in the second there are voids produced by the insects of which I have spoken and which attack some papers in preference to others.

"I also refer to the buildings, the temples, the beauty of the ruins and the motive which determined the transfer of this city to the west bank of the river which constitutes its port. But with reference to the plan requested by the note there is a real difficulty, as this is forbidden me as governor; the superior understanding of Your Excellency will comprehend the reasons, etc."

The documents sent by Governor Peralta were as follows:

"I, Jose Nunez de Caceres, doctor in sacred theology of the pontifical and royal University of the Angelical St. Thomas d'Acquino, dignitary dean of this holy metropolitan church, primate of the Indies, do certify that the sanctuary of this holy cathedral having been torn down on January 30 last, for reconstruction, there was found, on the side of the platform where the gospels are chanted, and near the door where the stairs go up to the capitular room, a stone coffer, hollow, of cubical form and about a yard high, enclosing a leaden urn, a little damaged, which contained several human bones. Several years ago, under the same circumstances and I so certify, there was found on the side of the epistles, another similar stone box, and according to the tradition handed down by the old men of the country and a chapter of the synod of this holy cathedral, that on the side of the gospels is reputed to enclose the bones of the Admiral Christopher Columbus and that on the side of the epistles, those of his brother, nor has it been possible to verify whether they are those of his brother Bartholomew or of Diego Columbus, son of the admiral. In testimony whereof I have delivered the present in Santo Domingo, April 20, 1783.

JOSE NUNEZ DE CACERES."

An identical certificate, signed by Manuel Sanchez, was also sent, as well as a third which reads as follows:

"I, Pedro de Galvez, schoolmaster, dignitary canon of this cathedral, primate of the Indies, do certify that the sanctuary having been overthrown in order to be reconstructed there was found on the side of the platform where the gospels are chanted, a stone coffer with a leaden urn, a little damaged, which contained human bones; and it is remembered that there is another of the same kind on the side of the epistles; and according to the report of the old men of the country and a chapter of the synod of this holy cathedral that on the side of the gospels encloses the bones of the Admiral Christopher Columbus, and that on the side of the epistles those of his brother Bartholomew. In witness whereof I have delivered the present on April 26, 1783.

PEDRO DE GALVEZ."

The certificates were not carefully drafted, for in speaking of the rebuilding of the sanctuary only the interior thereof, probably only the platform, was referred to, and from a notarial document of December 21, 1795, quoted below, it is evident that by coffer was meant a vault and that the word urn was used synonymously with box. The papers give eloquent testimony of the uncertainty in which the eminent men's remains were involved. Governor Peralta died in 1786 and was interred under the altar platform near the supposed remains of Columbus. In 1787, when Moreau de St. Mery endeavored to find the official record of the find of 1783, it had already disappeared.

In 1795 Spain ceded to France the entire Spanish part of Santo Domingo, and in evacuating the island the Spanish authorities determined to carry with them the remains of the great Discoverer. It is to be assumed that there were still persons connected with the cathedral who could point out the location of the vault accidentally discovered twelve years before and that as tradition referred to only one vault on that side of the altar, the remains contained therein were extracted without further investigation. The description of the vault opened tallies with that of the vault found in 1783. The document attesting the embarking of these remains reads as follows: "I, the undersigned clerk of the King, our Lord, in charge of the office of the chamber of this Royal Audiencia, do certify that on the twentieth day of December of the current year, there being in this holy cathedral the Commissioner Gregorio Savinon, perpetual member and dean of the very illustrious municipal council of this city, and in the presence of the most illustrious and reverend friar Fernando Portillo y Torres, most worthy Archbishop of this metropolitan see; of His Excellency Gabriel de Aristizabal, Lieutenant-General of the royal navy of His Majesty; of Antonio Cansi, Brigadier in charge of the fort of this city; of Antonio Barba, Field-marshal and Commander of Engineers; of Ignacio de la Rocha, Lieutenant-colonel and Sergeant-major of this city, and of other persons of rank and distinction, a vault was opened which is in the sanctuary on the side of the gospel (between) the main wall and the pedestal of the main altar, which is one cubic yard in size, and in the same there were found several plates of lead, about one tercio in length, indicating that there had been a box of the said metal, and pieces of bone as of the tibia or other parts of some deceased person, and they were collected in a salver that was filled with the earth, which by the fragments of small bone it contained and its color could be seen to belong to that dead body; and everything was placed in an ark of gilded lead with iron lock, which being closed its key was delivered to the said illustrious Archbishop, and which box is about half a yard long and wide and in height something more than a quarter of a yard, whereupon it was transferred to a small coffin lined with black velvet, and adorned with gold trimmings, and was placed on a decent catafalque.

"On the following day with the presence of the same illustrious Archbishop, His Excellency Aristizabal, the communities of Dominicans, Franciscans and Mercenarians, military and naval officers, and a concourse of distinguished persons, and people of the lower classes, mass was solemnly said and fasting enjoined, whereupon the same illustrious Archbishop preached.

"On this day, about half past four o'clock in the afternoon there came to the holy cathedral the gentlemen of the Royal Order, to wit, Joaquin Garcia, Fieldmarshal, President-Governor and Captain-General of this Island of Espanola; Jose Antonio de Vrisar, knight of the royal and distinguished order of Charles the Third, Minister of the royal and supreme council of the Indies and at present Regent of the Royal Audiencia; Justices Pedro Catani, dean; Manuel Bravo, likewise knight of the royal and distinguished order of Charles the Third, and with honors and seniority in the Royal Audiencia of Mexico; Melchor Joseph de Foncerrada and Andres Alvarez Calderon, state's attorney; there being in the cathedral the most illustrious and reverend Archbishop, His Excellency Gabriel de Aristizabal, the municipal council and religious communities, and a complete picket with draped banner, and taking the wooden box covered with plush and gold trimmings, in the interior of which was the box of gilded lead, which contained the remains exhumed on the preceding day, the President Joaquin Garcia, the Regent Joseph Antonio de Vrisar and the Justices, Dean Pedro Catani and Manuel Bravo conducted it to a little before the exit through the door of the said holy church, where the President and Regent separated, passed to their respective places and were substituted by Justice Foncerrada and Calderon, state's attorney, and upon leaving the church it was saluted by the said picket with a discharge of musketry, and there followed the Fieldmarshal and Commander of Engineers Antonio Barba, the Brigadier and Commander of militia Joaquin Cabrera, the Brigadier and Commander of the fort Antonio Cansi, and the colonel of the regiment 'Cantabria,' Gaspar de Casasola, and thereafter the military officers alternated according to their grade and seniority until reaching the city gate which leads to the harbor, where their places were taken by the members of the very illustrious municipal council of this city, dean Gregorio Savinon, Miguel Martinez Santalices, Francisco de Tapia and Francisco de Arredondo, judge of the rural court, and upon emerging from the gate it was placed upon a table prepared therefor; a response was chanted and during the same the forts saluted it with fifteen minute guns, as for an admiral, and one after another took the key of the ark and through the said illustrious Archbishop placed it in the hands of His Excellency Aristizabal, stating that they delivered the ark into his possession subject to the orders of the Governor of Havana as a deposit until His Majesty should determine what may be his royal pleasure, to which His Excellency acceded, accepting the ark in the manner stated and transferring it aboard the brigantine 'Descubridor,' which, with the other war-vessels waiting with insignia of mourning, also saluted it with fifteen guns, whereupon this certificate was concluded and signed by the parties.

"Santo Domingo, December 21, 1795. Joaquin Garcia. Friar Fernando, Archbishop of Santo Domingo. Gabriel de Aristizabal. Gregorio Savinon. Jose Francisco Hidalgo."

The brief account of the remains when everything else was related with such detail leads to the logical conclusion that there was no epitaph on the vault and no inscription on the leaden plates found within. The Spanish judicial chronicler's habit of minute description would not have permitted the omission of such important particulars, if they had existed.

The remains were transferred to Havana where their reception was even more solemn than their embarkation in Santo Domingo. On January 19, 1796, they were landed amid the booming of guns, conducted in state by the civil and military authorities and a large concourse to the plaza, and deposited on a magnificent bier in the shadow of the column erected where, according to tradition, the first mass was said in Havana and the first municipal council met. Here the ark was formally delivered to the Governor of Havana, who had it opened and its contents inspected, whereupon it was again closed and transferred with great pomp to the cathedral. The key was there delivered to the bishop and the remains deposited in a sepulchre with suitable bas-reliefs and inscriptions. The notarial narrative of the event goes into the most minute particulars, but the contents of the ark are merely described as "several leaden plates nearly a tercio in length, several small pieces of bone as of some deceased person, and some earth which seemed to be of that body."

For over eighty years it was generally accepted in Santo Domingo, as throughout the world, that the bones of Columbus rested in the cathedral of Havana. There were, indeed, persons who handed down a tradition that the remains taken away by the Spaniards were not those of the great navigator and that these still remained under the altar platform in the Santo Domingo cathedral, but such persons were very few and no attention was paid to their allegations. Some Dominicans even called on the Spanish government to return the remains and let them be laid to rest in Dominican soil in accordance with the Discoverer's dying wish. In the meantime no one thought of the tombs of Diego Columbus or Louis Columbus, nor was it remembered that they were buried in the cathedral.

In the year 1877 extensive repairs were undertaken in the cathedral of Santo Domingo. The worn brick flooring was to be replaced with marble squares, the old choir was to be torn down and a choir established elsewhere in the church, and the altar platform was to be extended into the church proper and reduced in height. Shortly after the work had begun, a heavy bronze image kept in the vestry—which adjoined the sanctuary on the side opposite that where the remains were exhumed in 1795—was, on May 14, 1877, placed in a doorway long closed leading to the sanctuary. In doing so it was noticed that a hollow sound came from the wall adjoining and in order to ascertain the cause a small opening was made in the wall about a yard above the floor. It was then seen that there was a small vault under the altar platform of the church, and that the vault contained a metal box with human remains. Canon Billini, in charge of the cathedral, immediately ordered that the opening be closed until the return of the bishop from a pastoral visit to the Cibao. The hole was hidden behind a curtain and no immediate attention given to it. Towards the end of June Mr. Carlos Nouel, a friend of Canon Billini, obtained permission to look in at the box and deciphered a rude inscription reading, "El Almirante D. Luis Colon, Duque de Veragua, Marques de—" "The Admiral Don Louis Columbus, Duke of Veragua, Marquis of—." The last word was missing because of a hole in the corroded leaden plate, but was supposed to be "Jamaica." At this time the box was broken, because several days before in placing a scaffold in the church one of the posts had been located over the box and had broken through. The persons who afterwards sought to draw out the box pulled to overcome the obstacle and tore the weak plates apart entirely.

The bishop returned on August 18, 1877, and being informed of what had happened, on September 1 invited the Cabinet officers, the consular corps and a number of civil and military authorities and private persons to witness the removal of the remains of Louis Columbus. To the chagrin of the bishop and canon, it was found that the plate with the inscription had been stolen. Probably shamed by ever increasing popular indignation, the grave-robber anonymously returned it on December 14, 1879, by leaving it in the cathedral door in a package addressed to the archbishop. The other plates with the earth and pieces of bone were carefully collected.



The unexpected finding of the long forgotten remains of the grandson of the Admiral recalled the tradition that the Discoverer's body still remained in Santo Domingo, and several gentlemen, among them the Italian consul, requested the bishop to take advantage of the repairing of the church for a thorough investigation of the altar platform in order to ascertain whether it contained any other notable graves. The bishop gave his consent, and the investigation commenced on September 8, under the direction of Canon Billini. Digging was begun near the door of the capitular room and in a short time an unmarked grave was found containing human remains and military insignia. It was proven by witnesses that they were the remains of Juan Sanchez Ramirez, Captain-General of Santo Domingo, who died on February 12, 1811, and was buried in the same place where had been the grave of General Isidore Peralta. A narrow wall was then encountered which was afterwards found to be the containing wall of the ancient altar platform. On the ninth, a Sunday, the work went on during the morning with the permission of the bishop. An excavation was made at the place where, according to tradition, the remains taken to Havana had lain and soon a small vault was discovered quite empty. It was evidently the vault opened by the Spaniards in 1795. The examination was continued between this vault and the main altar, but nothing new was encountered, whereupon the work was left to be resumed on the following day, rather with the hope of finding something of Diego Columbus, for the empty vault seemed to show that the remains of Christopher Columbus were really removed in 1795.

The excavations continued on September 10, 1877, between the empty vault and the wall. A large stone was found, and a piece broken off, disclosing another vault containing what appeared to be a square box. The bishop and the Italian consul were sent for immediately and upon their arrival the orifice was slightly enlarged and a metal box became clearly visible. It was covered with the dust of centuries, but an inscription was seen, in which abbreviations of the words "First Admiral" could faintly be distinguished. The work was stopped at once, the doors of the cathedral were locked and all the principal persons of the city invited to attend the further investigation of the vault's contents. The report of the find rapidly spread through the city, though distorted in some quarters, for one of the workmen hearing the bishop's joyful exclamation, "Oh, what a treasure!" conceived the idea that the box was full of gold pieces and so informed the people that gathered outside.

The formal opening of the vault on the afternoon of that day and the examination of its contents are minutely described in the notarial document drawn up on the occasion:

"In the City of Santo Domingo on the tenth of September of the year eighteen hundred and seventy-seven. At four o'clock in the afternoon upon invitation of the most illustrious and reverend Doctor Friar Roque Cocchia, Bishop of Orope, Vicar and Apostolic Delegate of the Holy See in the Republics of Santo Domingo, Venezuela and Haiti, assisted by presbyter Friar Bernardino d'Emilia, secretary of the bishopric, by the honorary penitentiary canon, presbyter Francisco Javier Billini, rector and founder of the College of San Luis Gonzaga and of the charity asylum, apostolic missionary and acting curate of the holy cathedral, and by presbyter Eliseo J'Andoli, assistant curate of the same, there met in the holy cathedral General Marcos A. Cabral, Minister of the Interior and Police; Licentiate Felipe Davila Fernandez de Castro, Minister of Foreign Relations; Joaquin Montolio, Minister of Justice and Public Instruction; General Manuel A. Caceres, Minister of Finance and Commerce; and General Valentin Ramirez Baez, Minister of War and the Navy; and the citizens General Braulio Alvarez, Civil and Military Governor of the Province of the Capital, assisted by his secretary Pedro Maria Gautier; the honorable members of the illustrious municipal council of this capital, citizen Juan de la C. Alfonseca, president, and citizens Felix Baez, Juan Bautista Paradas, Pedro Mota, Manuel Maria Cabral and Jose Maria Bonetti, members; General Francisco Ungria Chala, military commandant of this city; citizens Felix Mariano Lluveres, president of the legislative chamber and Francisco Javier Machado, deputy to the same chamber; the members of the consular corps accredited to the Republic, Messrs. Miguel Pou, Consul of H.M. the Emperor of Germany, Luis Cambiaso, Consul of H.M. the King of Italy, Jose Manuel Echeverri, Consul of H. Catholic M. the King of Spain, Aubin Defougerais, Consul of the French Republic, Paul Jones, Consul of the United States of North America, Jose Martin Leyba, Consul of H.M. the King of the Netherlands, and David Coen, Consul of H.M. the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain; the citizens licentiates in medicine and surgery Marcos Antonio Gomez and Jose de Jesus Brenes; the civil engineer Jesus Maria Castillo, director of the work in this cathedral; the chief sexton of the same, Jesus Maria Troncoso, and the undersigned notaries public, Pedro Nolasco Polanco, Mariano Montolio and Leonardo Delmonte i Aponte, the first also being the acting notary of the curacy and the second the titular notary of the municipal council of this capital.

"The most illustrious Bishop, in the presence of the gentlemen above designated and of a numerous concourse, declares: that the holy cathedral being undergoing repairs under the direction of the reverend Canon Francisco Javier Billini, and it having come to his notice that according to tradition and notwithstanding what appears from public documents with reference to the transfer of the remains of the Admiral Christopher Columbus to the city of Havana in the year seventeen hundred and ninety-five the said remains might still be in the place where they had been deposited and as such place the right side of the sanctuary was designated, under the spot occupied by the archbishop's chair; with the desire of clearing up the matters which tradition had carried to him, he authorized the reverend Canon Billini, upon his request, to make the necessary explorations; and as the latter was doing so with two workmen on the morning of this day, he discovered at a depth of two palms, more or less, the beginning of a vault which permitted part of a metal box to be seen; that immediately the said Canon Billini ordered the chief sexton, Jesus Maria Troncoso, to go to the archiepiscopal palace and inform His Grace of the result of the investigations, also informing the Minister of the Interior, requesting their presence without loss of time; that immediately His Grace proceeded to the holy cathedral where he found Jesus Maria Castillo, civil engineer, in charge of the repairs to this temple and two workmen who, in company with Canon Billini, guarded the small excavation which had been made, and at the same time Luis Cambiaso arrived, called by the said Canon Billini; that having personally made certain of the existence of the vault as well as that it contained the box to which Canon Billini made reference and an inscription being discovered on the upper part of what appeared to be the lid, he ordered that things be left as they were and that the doors of the temple be closed, the keys being confided to the reverend Canon Billini; proposing to invite, as he did invite, His Excellency the great citizen, President of the Republic, General Buenaventura Baez, his Cabinet, the consular corps and the other civil and military authorities named in the beginning of this certificate, in order to proceed with all due solemnity to the extraction of the box and give all required authenticity to the result of the investigation; and having advised the authorities, by their order municipal policemen were stationed at each one of the closed doors of the temple.

"His Grace, stationed in the sanctuary, near the started excavation and surrounded by the authorities above mentioned and a very numerous concourse, all the doors of the temple having been opened, had the excavation continued, and a slab was removed, permitting the raising of the box, which was taken and shown by His Grace and found to be of lead. The said box was exhibited to all the authorities convoked, and thereupon was carried in procession through the interior of the temple and shown to the people.

"The pulpit of the left nave of the temple being occupied by His Grace, by the reverend Canon Billini, who carried the box, the Minister of the Interior, the president of the municipal council and two of the notaries public who sign this document: His Grace opened the box and exhibited to the people a part of the remains it encloses; he also read the several inscriptions on the box, which prove beyond controversy that the remains are really and in fact those of the illustrious Genovese, the great Admiral Christopher Columbus, Discoverer of America. The truth of the matter being irrefutably ascertained, a salute of twenty-one guns, fired by the artillery of the fort, a general ringing of bells and strains of music from the military band, announced the happy and memorable event to the city.

"Immediately the authorities convoked met in the vestry of the temple and proceeded in the presence of the undersigned notaries public, who certify thereto, to an examination and expert investigation of the box and its contents; the result of the examination being that the said box is of lead, has hinges and measures forty-two centimeters in length, twenty-one centimeters in depth and twenty and a half in width; containing the following inscriptions: on the upper side of the lid 'D. de la A, Per. Ate.'—On the left headboard 'C.' On the front side 'C'—On the right headboard 'A.' On raising the lid the following inscription was found on the inner side of the same carved in German Gothic characters: 'Illtre. y Esdo. Varon Dn. Cristobal Colon,' and in the said box human remains which on examination by the licentiate of equal class Jose de Jesus Brenes are found to be: A femur deteriorated in the upper part of the neck, between the great trochanter and its head. A fibula in its natural state. A radius also complete. The os sacrum in bad condition. The coccyx. Two lumbar vertabrae. One cervical and two dorsal vertabrae. Two calcanea. One bone of the metacarpus. Another of the metatarsus. A fragment of the frontal or coronal bone, containing half of an orbital cavity. A middle third of the tibia. Two more fragments of tibia. Two astragoli. One upper portion of shoulder-blade. One fragment of the lower jawbone. One half of an os humeri, the whole constituting thirteen small and twenty-eight large fragments, there being others reduced to dust.

"In addition a leaden ball weighing about an ounce, more or less, was found and two small screws belonging to the box.

"The examination mentioned having been terminated, the ecclesiastical and civil authorities and the illustrious municipal council resolved to close and seal the box with their respective seals and deposit it in the sanctuary of the church of Regina Angelorum, under the responsibility of the aforesaid penitentiary canon Francisco Javier Billini, until otherwise determined; His Grace, the Ministers, the consuls and the undersigned notaries immediately proceeding to affix their seals; and finally they determined to transfer the box in triumph to the said church of Regina Angelorum, accompanied by the veteran troops of the capital, batteries of artillery, music, and whatever else might give impressiveness and splendor to so solemn an act, for which the town was prepared as was noted from the great multitude which filled the temple and the cathedral plaza, to which we certify, as we do also that the present was signed by the gentlemen above named and other distinguished persons.

"Friar Roque Cocchia, of the Order of Capuchins, Bishop of Orope, Apostolic Delegate to Santo Domingo, Haiti and Venezuela, Apostolic Vicar in Santo Domingo—Friar Bernardino d'Emilia, Capuchin, Secretary of His Excellency the Apostolic Delegate and Vicar—Francisco X. Billini—Eliseo J'Andoli, assistant curate of the cathedral—Marcos A. Cabral, Minister of the Interior and Police—Felipe Davila Fernandez de Castro, Minister of Foreign Relations—Joaquin Montolio, Minister of Justice and Public Instruction—M. A. Caceres, Minister of Finance and Commerce—Valentin Ramirez Baez, Minister of War and the Navy—Braulio Alvarez, Governor of the Province—Pedro Ma. Gautier, Secretary—Juan de la C. Alfonseca, President of the Municipal council—Members, Felix Baez—Juan Bautista Paradas—Manuel Ma. Cabral B.—P. Mota—Jose M. Bonetti—Francisco Ungria Chala, Commandant of Arms—Felix Mariano Lluveres, President of the Legislative Chamber—Francisco Javier Machado, Deputy of the Legislative Chamber—The Consul of Spain, Jose Manuel Echeverri—Luigi Cambiaso, R. Consul of H. M. the King of Italy—Miguel Pou, Consul of the German Empire—Paul Jones, United States Consul—D. Coen, British Vice-Consul—J. M. Leyba, Consul of the Netherlands—A. Aubin Defougerais, Vice-Consul of France—Jesus Ma. Castillo, Civil Engineer—M. A. Gomez, Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery—J. J. Brenes, Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery—The chief sexton, Jesus Ma. Troncoso—A. Licairac—M. M. Santamaria—Domingo Rodriguez—Manuel de Jesus Garcia—Enrique Peinado—Federico Polanco—Lugardis Olivo—P. Mr. Consuegra—Eujenio de Marchena—Valentin Ramirez, Jr.—F. Perdomo—Joaquin Ramirez Morales—Amable Damiron—Jaime Ratto—Pedro N. Polanco, Notary Public—Leonardo Delmonte I Aponte, Notary Public—Mariano Montolio, Notary Public."



The vault so opened was a little larger than that opened in 1795, and separated therefrom by a six-inch wall. The leaden box was of rude construction, dented and much oxydized, the plates being a little thicker than those of the casket of Louis Columbus. The inscription on the outside of the lid "D. de la A. Per, Ate." was taken to mean "Descubridor de la America, Primer Almirante"—"Discoverer of America, First Admiral." The inscription on the inner side of the lid, without contractions, was: "Ilustre y Esclarecido Varon Don Cristobal Colon"—"Illustrious and noble man, Christopher Columbus." The letters "C C A" were interpreted as signifying "Cristobal Colon, Almirante"—"Christopher Columbus, Admiral." On January 3, 1878, a more minute examination of the remains was made at the request of the Spanish Academy of History and in the dust at the bottom of the box was found a small silver plate with two holes by which it had evidently been screwed with the two screws found at the first examination to some wooden board or receptacle. All vestige of wood had disappeared, either through decay or perhaps through destruction by insects, for on the walls of the vault are faint traces of ancient tracks made by the comejen or wood-eating ant. On one side of the plate was engraved in rude letters: "Ua. pte. de los rtos. del pmer. Alte. D. Cristoval Colon Des.," which is read as meaning "Ultima parte de los restos del primer Almirante, Don Cristoval Colon, Descubridor"—"Last part of the remains of the first Admiral, Don Christopher Columbus, Discoverer." On the reverse side are the words "Cristoval Colon" and several letters which indicate that the inscription "Ua. pte." etc., was begun here but was stopped, perhaps because there was not sufficient room.



The small lead ball, similar to a musket-ball, found in the box, has been the subject of much comment. It is not known that Columbus was ever wounded, though it is true that of many years of his life we have little information. Some writers make deductions from an equivocal sentence contained in a letter written by him to the rulers of Spain on his fourth voyage, in which he refers to his difficulties off the coast of Central America and says: "There the wound of my trouble opened." Others refer to an obscure sentence of Las Casas, but others believe that the ball was dropped in the box by accident, either when the box was prepared for the vault or at some time when in the course of the centuries the vault may have been casually opened as was the adjoining vault in 1783. At what time the remains were enclosed in this box and the inscriptions placed on the same it is impossible to determine; it may have been in Seville, or in the early days in Santo Domingo, or at a later date, perhaps when the epitaphs were removed from the vault.

The remainder of the old altar platform was carefully examined but no other vaults or remains were discovered. With reference to the bones "of a deceased person" transferred in 1795 a logical conclusion can be reached: Christopher Columbus, his son Diego, and his grandson Louis were all buried in the Santo Domingo cathedral; the caskets, with inscriptions, of the first and third were found in 1877 and there are no other vaults under the old altar platform; therefore the remains taken away in 1795 with pieces of a casket without inscription, or the inscription of which had become illegible, were most probably those of Diego Columbus.

Santo Domingo went wild with joy over the discovery. It was determined to erect a suitable monument for the remains with funds raised by private subscription and by a half per cent, surtax on imports. A beautiful marble memorial costing $40,000, guarded by bronze lions and adorned with bronze relief work depicting scenes from the life of Columbus, was designed by two Spanish sculptors. The first intention was to place the same in a mausoleum specially built for the purpose, but it was finally erected in the nave of the cathedral near the main door. A richly ornamented bronze box placed in the monument contains the leaden casket and the remains. Once a year on the anniversary of the find, the box is opened and the public permitted to gaze on its contents.

The Spanish authorities would never admit the authenticity of the remains found in 1877, and the Spanish consul in Santo Domingo was bitterly criticized for affixing his signature to the notarial document relating the discovery. The Spaniards continue to claim that the true remains of the Discoverer are those which were transferred to Havana. Upon the evacuation of Cuba by Spain in 1898 these remains were solemnly removed and taken to Spain, where they now rest in the cathedral of Seville. Many investigations have been made from different sources and the majority of investigators report in favor of the Dominican contention, especially when they have personally visited Santo Domingo. The Spanish writers present no proof that the remains taken to Havana in 1795 were those of Christopher Columbus, but limit themselves to attacking the find of 1877. The insinuations and accusations, without corroborating facts, prove nothing but the temper of their authors. All criticisms have been refuted by showing that even supposing the box to date from the year 1540, other and indubitable inscriptions of that year have the same style of letters, abbreviations, spelling and words as those criticized. Further the appearance of the box and vault of 1877, the circumstances attending their discovery, and the irreproachable character of the Apostolic Delegate, of Canon Billini and of others connected with that event preclude all suspicion of fraud.

On the whole, the weight of evidence is strongly in favor of the Dominican contention. It seems that, in spite of the acts of men, fate has permitted the remains of the Discoverer of America to repose in the principal cathedral of the island he loved.



CHAPTER XVIII

GOVERNMENT

Form of government.—Constitutions.—Presidents.—Election.—Powers. —Executive secretaries.—Land and sea forces.—Congress.—Local subdivisions.—Provincial governors.—Communal governments.

From the date of the declaration of independence, February 27, 1844, down to the present time, with the exception only of a portion of the period of Spanish occupation of 1861 to 1865, Santo Domingo has remained in form at least, a republic. Herein it contrasts with its neighbor Haiti, which has experienced several monarchies. Thus Dessalines proclaimed himself emperor in 1804, Christophe assumed the title of king in 1810 and Soulouque had himself declared emperor in 1849; and the latter two instituted pompous black nobilities. And though the Cibao of Santo Domingo and the region south of the Central Cordillera have ever been rivals and often in arms against each other under competing generals, there has never been any tendency to separate and form two states—as occurred in Haiti in 1806 when the northern portion fell under the sway of Christophe for a period of fourteen years, first as a nominal republic and later as a kingdom, while the southern portion became a republic under Petion and finally under Boyer.

But although the country has in form remained a republic and the title of the chief of state has never been more pretentious than president or protector, in fact there have been few years when the government was not autocratic and the president an absolute monarch whose powers were limited only by his own generous impulses or the fear of alienating his more influential supporters. Dominican writers have even referred to the constitution as a conventional lie.

The various Dominican presidents, as soon as securely in power, have generally been careful to follow constitutional forms, in an effort to deceive their followers and themselves into the belief that they were acting in regular course as servants of the people. The successful revolutionist was almost, always in haste to "legalize" his position by an election. Most of the presidents, among them Heureaux, have been great sticklers for form. Instead of moulding their wishes to conform to the constitution, however, they would mould the constitution to conform to their wishes, and repeatedly the first act of the successful revolutionist has been to promulgate a new constitution in accordance with his ideas. It has thus come to pass that the constitution, far from being revered as the immutable foundation of government, has rather been regarded as the convenient means for the president in office to exercise power. From 1844 to the present time nineteen constitutions have been promulgated in Santo Domingo, one in the year 1844, one each in 1858, 1859 and 1865, two in 1866 and one each in 1868, 1874, 1875, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1887, 1896, 1907 and 1908.

This extraordinary number is due in part to the practice of not enacting amendments to an existing constitution, but of promulgating the amended instrument as a new constitution. On three of the occasions here indicated a constitution was abrogated in order to revive a prior one. No account is taken in the above computation of the instances where a successful revolutionist in order to announce his adherence to the then existing constitution promulgated the same anew. Thus the constitution of 1896 was reestablished in 1903.

The Dominican constitutions have all been modeled on the general lines of that of the United States, and have differed from each other only in detail. The term of office of the president has varied from one to six years and the powers conferred upon him have been more or less ample. The constitution of 1854, revived in 1859, 1866 and 1868, practically invested him with dictatorial powers, and the only legislative assembly it provided for was an "Advisory Senate" of nine members.

The present constitution was drafted by a constitutional assembly which sat in Santiago de los Caballeros in the early part of 1908. It is disappointing both as a literary and political document. The style bears witness to the haste with which the instrument was compiled. Provisions quite unsuitable to Dominican conditions are included, such as that granting the right to vote to all male citizens over eighteen years of age. Such an extension of the suffrage would be looked upon askance even in countries where education is general, and in Santo Domingo would constitute a serious danger if really put into effect. While the presidential succession is left to be regulated by a law of Congress, the constitution goes into minute details regarding citizenship, naturalization and several other matters. Repeated attempts have been made to secure a new constitution and in 1914 partial elections were held for a constitutional convention, but for one reason or another the plan has not matured. A new constitution will probably be provided in connection with the cessation of American occupation.

According to the present constitution the president must be a native born Dominican, at least thirty-five years of age and with a residence of at least twenty years in the Republic. His term of office is fixed at six years, to be counted from the day of inauguration. The fact that no specific date is mentioned has repeatedly proved a matter of convenience to successful revolutionists. The designation of a presidential term of office in the various constitutions has thus far been something of an irony, for of the 43 executives who have come to the fore in the 70 years of national life, but three presidents have completed terms of office for which they were elected: Baez one term, Merino one and Heureaux four, nor was the distinction of these three due to ought but their success in suppressing revolutionary movements. Five vice-presidents completed presidential terms. Two presidents were killed and twenty deposed. The other chief magistrates resigned more or less voluntarily.

Of the 43 presidents 15 were chosen by popular election according to constitutional forms, 5 were vice-presidents who succeeded to the presidency, 4 were provisional presidents elected by Congress, 10 began as military presidents and then had themselves elected under constitutional forms, and 9 were purely and simply military provisional presidents.

A comparison of the list of presidents with the roster of executives of Haiti reveals a disproportion, for though the black Republic has been in existence since 1804, it has had but twenty-nine chiefs of state, the average duration of whose rule was therefore much longer than has been the case in Santo Domingo. It is to be observed, however, that of the Haitian executives only one completed his term of office and voluntarily retired; of the others, four remained in power until their death from natural causes, eighteen were deposed by revolutions, one of them, committing suicide, another being executed on the steps of his burning palace, and still another being cut to pieces by the mob; five were assassinated; and one is chief magistrate at the present time.

The president and members of the Senate and House of Deputies are elected by indirect vote. Electors whose number and apportionment among the several provinces and their subdivisions are prescribed by law, are chosen by general suffrage in what are called primary assemblies in the several municipalities and constitute electoral colleges which meet at the chief town of the respective province. The electors having cast their votes for president the minutes of the session are sent to the capital. The votes are counted in joint session of Congress and the successful candidate is proclaimed by that body.

Though the election procedure designated in the constitution was gravely followed, yet not once in the history of the country has the result of an election been in doubt, nor is there an instance when the candidate of the government was not elected, excepting only the election of October, 1914, when the American government brought watchers from Porto Rico to avoid gross frauds and coercion. Usually everything was prepared beforehand and the primaries and the meetings of the electoral colleges were little more than ratification meetings. The votes of the electoral colleges were generally unanimous in favor of the government's candidate, yet the odd spectacle has repeatedly presented itself, of a unanimously elected president being driven out of the country within a few months by a general revolution.

The constitution authorizes the president to conclude treaties with the consent of Congress, to appoint certain government officials, to receive foreign diplomatic representatives, and to grant pardons in certain cases, and makes him commander-in-chief of the army and navy. Most of the chief magistrates have not felt themselves hampered, however, whether in peace or war, by any enumeration of powers in the constitution, for their ascendancy has generally been such that their wishes would be complied with and their illegal acts ratified or ignored by a subservient Congress. President Heureaux so controlled Congress, the courts, and all public functionaries, that the government was practically identical with his personality.

The constitution provides that in case of the death, resignation or disability of the president the Congress shall by law designate the person who is to act as president until the disability ceases or a new president is elected, and that if Congress is not sitting the Cabinet officers are immediately to call a session. This is an innovation, as from 1853 to 1907 the Dominican constitutions provided for a vice-president. The vice-president was generally a decorative feature. He was required to possess the same qualifications as the president and was chosen with the same formalities, but no duties were assigned to him, not even that of presiding in Congress, so that his only attribute was the glory of being a president in escrow. The newly elected vice-president therefore often quietly retired to his farm, emerging occasionally to act in the president's stead when the latter left the capital on a trip through the country. Frequently the vice-president was made delegate of the government in some part of the country and at times he was invested with a portfolio as one of the cabinet secretaries. During the administration of a strong president, as in the time of Heureaux, the vice-president was generally one of his satellites, whereas, when the president's power was not so firmly established, as in the administrations of Jimenez and Morales, one of his rivals would be mollified by the vice-presidency. In such cases friction frequently developed, and in the two cases specified the vice-presidents and presidential rivals, Vasquez and Caceres, overthrew the president and established themselves in power. Evidently in order to avoid such disturbances and temptations the constitution of 1908 abolished the office of vice-president. The lack of a definite successor to the president, however, enabled Victoria to seize the presidency after the death of Caceres in 1911 and has given rise to uncertainty and trouble in the cases of presidential succession since that time.

It has been a custom, sometimes expressly authorized by the constitution, for the president to delegate executive powers and prerogatives to persons selected by him in various parts of the country, especially where revolutionary uprisings threatened. There has usually been such a delegate of the government in the Cibao and often one in Azua. They are powerful officials, inasmuch as they are regarded as the direct representatives of the president and his administration, command the local military forces, and constitute the fountain-head of all local executive appointments. Nominations as delegates of the government have been preferably conferred upon provincial governors or upon the vice-president. The president is naturally anxious to repose such powers in one of his confidants, but political exigencies have sometimes obliged him to soothe one of his rivals with the distinction and remain on the qui vive thereafter. More than one governmental delegate has overthrown the president and established himself in power.

Provisional presidents have been numerous in Dominican history. After a successful revolution the victorious general usually proclaimed himself president of a provisional government and until the constitution was again declared in force he and his ministers united executive and legislative power. How far the acts of such de facto governments were legally binding upon the Republic has been questioned in cases where obligations were imposed upon the country, but foreign governments in asserting their rights have paid little attention to such quibbles.

The constitution provides that there shall be such executive secretaries as may be determined by law. They are currently referred to as ministers and their number has been fixed at seven, namely, (1) secretary of the interior and police (interior y policia); (2) secretary of foreign relations (relaciones exteriores); (3) secretary of finance and commerce (hacienda y comercio); (4) secretary of war and the navy (guerra y marina); (5) secretary of justice and public instruction (justicia e instruccion publica); (6) secretary of agriculture and immigration (agricultura e inmigracion); (7) secretary of public development and communications (fomento y comunicaciones). Communication between Congress and the executive departments is rendered easier than in the United States by the constitutional provision that the secretaries of state are obliged to attend the Congressional sessions when called by Congress. This right of interpellation has frequently been exercised.

The secretary of the interior and police is at the head of an important department. He is the administrative superior of the provincial governors and the communal and cantonal chiefs. His position renders him the sentinel of the government for the detection of revolutionary movements.

The foreign office of the Republic is directed by the secretary of foreign affairs. The diplomatic service of Santo Domingo is limited to the modest needs of the country, the more important posts being those of minister plenipotentiary in the United States, Haiti and France and charge d'affaires in Cuba and Venezuela. The majority of consuls depend altogether upon consular fees for their remuneration, only a few of the more important being provided for in the budget. The consulates of most consequence have been considered to be those in the surrounding West India Islands and in New York City, for apart from their commercial relations with the Republic these places have been the favorite haunts of conspiring political exiles. Almost all the European countries are represented in the Dominican Republic either by ministers, charges d'affaires or consuls. Of the diplomatic representatives residing in Santo Domingo City the highest in rank is the American minister. Before 1904 the American minister to Haiti was accredited to the Dominican Republic as charge d'affaires. The United States has consular representatives at all the principal ports, there being an American consul at Puerto Plata and consular agents elsewhere. In the past, great respect has been shown to consulates even to the extent of allowing them privileges of extra-territoriality, and frequently political refugees have sought asylum under the flag of a mere consular agent.

The secretary of finance and commerce has charge of the sources of national income, and the customs and internal revenue services, and under his authority the disbursements of the Republic are audited. The office for the compilation of statistics, organized a few years ago, is also in this department.

The army, rural police, navy and the captaincies of the port are under the supervision of the secretary of war and the navy. This official is always a military man and generally takes the field in person in cases of revolutionary uprisings. During the insurrection of Jimenez against Morales in 1903-4, two of Morales' ministers of war were killed in battle.

Upon the American occupation in 1916 the military force of the Republic was disbanded. There were at that time twelve military posts, one in the capital of each province. The commanders and their aides and the chiefs of forts and their assistants were treated as distinct from the regular army. The army's strength and organization have varied greatly; at the time of its dissolution the authorized strength was one infantry regiment of about 470 officers and men, and a band of 33 men. Only a few months before, the preceding budget had authorized an infantry force of about 800 officers and men and a battery of mountain artillery of 100 officers and men, in addition to the all-important band. In reality, however, only the membership of the band was certain; in time of war the rest of the military establishment was much larger, and in time of peace it comprised numerous phantom soldiers, whose salaries were nevertheless regularly collected from the national treasury. Service was supposed to be voluntary, but the "volunteers" were generally picked out by communal chiefs and brought in under guard, sometimes tied with ropes to keep them from deserting.

There was also an inefficient and overbearing rural police called the "Guardia Republicana," supposed to consist of seven companies of about 800 officers and men, but here too things were not what they seemed. The higher officers of the Republican Guard were a brigadier-general, a colonel, a lieutenant-colonel and 2 majors; those of the army only a colonel, 2 lieutenant-colonels and 2 majors, which was very modest for a country teeming with generals and where the budget of 1909 even appropriated $20,000 for a "corps of generals at the orders of the president."

The American garrison in the Republic, comprising about 1000 men, took over the military posts in the Republic and lent strength to the Guardia Republicana. By an order of the military governor, of April 7, 1917, the sum of $500,000 was set aside for the organization of a constabulary force to be called the "Guardia Nacional Dominicana," to take the place of the Dominican army, navy and police. This Dominican National Guard is to be commanded by a citizen of the United States and such other officers as the American government may consider necessary. Its organization is far advanced and it has already absorbed the Guardia Republicana. In it will be merged the frontier guard of about 70 men depending on the general receiver's office, and probably also the small municipal police squads that compel the observance of municipal ordinances.

The Dominican navy is now composed of a single gunboat, the "Independencia." At the end of Heureaux's rule the country boasted three. The best of these was the "Restauracion," which went on the rocks at the entrance to Macoris harbor in one of the first conflicts between the Jimenistas and Horacistas. The story goes that the steamer was about to attack Macoris, that the pilot, in sympathy with the opposition, grounded her with a view to having her captured, but that a sudden storm drove her to complete destruction. Another gunboat was the "Presidente," which had figured in history, for it was nothing less than the yacht "Deerhound," on which the Confederate Admiral Semmes took refuge after the sinking of the "Alabama" by the "Kearsarge." In 1906 it was sent to Newport News for overhauling as old age had made it unseaworthy, but since the repairs would have cost more than the vessel was worth, it was sold for old iron. The survivor, the "Independencia" is a trim vessel with a crew of fifty officers and men. Attached to the general receiver's office are several gasoline revenue cutters, recently provided.

The secretary of justice and public instruction has administrative supervision over the courts, jails and schools of the Republic, and the government subventions to primary and private schools are disbursed under his direction.

The secretary of agriculture and immigration is the cabinet officer of most recent creation. Prior to the 1908 constitution agriculture had been in charge of the department of public development and there had been no special provision for immigration. The importance of these subjects for the Republic was felt to be such as to merit the establishment of a special department. In practice the department has done nothing, its efforts being hampered by revolutions and circumscribed by the limited sums at its disposal. Its activities have been confined to a general supervision of agriculture, the preparatory work of the establishment of an agricultural experiment station and the operation of a small meteorological service.

The department of public development and communications has charge of the postal service of the Republic, of the national telegraph and telephone, of the lighthouses, and of the public works carried on by the government.