Santo Domingo: A Country with a Future Part 13

General condition of munic.i.p.alities.--Santo Domingo City; ruins, churches, streets, popular legends.--Other towns of Santo Domingo Province.--San Pedro de Macoris.--Seibo.--Samana and Sanchez.

--Pacificador Province.--Concepcion de La Vega.--Moca.--Santiago de los Caballeros.--Puerto Plata.--Monte Cristi.--Azua.--Barahona.

Compared with cities in the United States a majority of Dominican towns are h.o.a.ry with age. The capital city and a number of others were founded more than a century before Virginia was settled, and had begun to decline almost a hundred years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. Yet such have been the vicissitudes of the country that only one city, the capital, shows signs of its antiquity; the others from their appearance might be taken to be but a few decades old, and with the exception of two or three ancient churches in the interior none of the older buildings of these towns have survived the ravages of time, wars and earthquakes. The modern appearance of most cities is heightened by the fact that frame structures predominate, and outside of Santo Domingo, Santiago, La Vega and Puerto Plata stone houses are infrequent.

The impoverishment of the country by periodic revolutions has had its effect on the munic.i.p.alities and prevented their proper development.

In no city are all munic.i.p.al needs and services properly attended to, and in most towns they are all badly neglected. Sanitary inspection is nowhere given due attention; sewers are practically unknown; but two cities, Puerto Plata and Santiago, have a general system of waterworks, the others being dependent on water drawn from cisterns or wells, or carried from rivers or springs; in all but five or six little attention is paid to the condition of the streets. Only Santiago, Puerto Plata and Santo Domingo have electric light, but that of Santo Domingo is very deficient. Little by little conditions are improving and especially the larger munic.i.p.alities are endeavoring to improve their streets and provide a water supply.

To the smallness of the urban centers their lack of munic.i.p.al conveniences is partly to be attributed. The Dominican towns are all built on the same general plan as other Spanish cities, being constructed around a central plaza on which the church and government building are located.

The princ.i.p.al cities are the capitals of the twelve provinces, and the city of Sanchez. A brief description of these cities follows, with a reference to the other more important towns and villages of each province.

PROVINCE OF SANTO DOMINGO

_Santo Domingo de Guzman_, the capital of the Republic and of the province of the same name, is the oldest city founded by Europeans in the new world, the first city, Isabela, having disappeared a few years after settlement. It was founded by Bartholomew Columbus in 1496 on the east bank of the Ozama River as the capital of the colony, but the small houses const.i.tuting the town having been destroyed by a hurricane in 1502 it was transferred to the west bank of the river by order of Governor Ovando. It grew rapidly in population and wealth until it merited the eulogies of Oviedo who wrote to Charles V in 1525 that he did not hesitate to a.s.sure that there was not in Spain a city he would prefer whether on account of advantageous and agreeable location, beauty and arrangement of squares and streets or charms of the surrounding country, adding that "their Highnesses oftentimes lodged in palaces which have neither the conveniences, the ample size nor the wealth of some of those in Santo Domingo." By the middle of the sixteenth century the city had pa.s.sed the zenith of its glory, and its capture by Drake in 1586 and the destruction of the houses about the main plaza was a severe blow. The decline continued rapidly, although in 1655 the city was still strong enough to repel an invasion by Admiral William Penn. In 1684 and 1691 it was visited by destructive earthquakes and in 1700 it was full of ruins among which grew great trees. The lowest ebb was reached about 1737 when the population had fallen to 500 "and," writes Father Valverde, "more than half the buildings of the capital were entirely ruined, and of those still standing two-thirds were uninhabitable or closed and the other third was more than enough for the population. There were houses and lands whose owners were unknown, and of which people took advantage as belonging to the first one who might occupy them, either because there was entire lack of heirs of the owners or because they had emigrated elsewhere." In a few years, however, the tide of fortune turned and the city's rise was as rapid as its decline had been long, until by about the year 1790 it had quite recovered its ancient glory. Another reverse was quick in coming, for the cession to France in 1795 and the revolt of the negroes in French Saint-Domingue drove away the best inhabitants. In 1801 Toussaint l'Ouverture took possession of the city and in 1805 it was successfully held by the French against the siege of the negro emperor Dessalines. This siege was the beginning of a series lasting for a century. In 1809 after a desperate struggle the city was recaptured for Spain by the Dominicans, but from 1822 to 1844 it was in the hands of the Haitians, and abandoned by all the whites who could flee. Since the declaration of Dominican independence in 1844 almost every revolution has involved a siege of the capital.

Within the last twenty-five years the city has made rapid strides forward and spread far beyond the old city walls.

To the stranger Santo Domingo is by far the most interesting city of the Republic, on account of its stirring history and its venerable monuments of the past. Unfortunately the relics of the early days have met with scant respect from later generations, and ruins which would be the pride of other cities have been wantonly demolished. The Haitian governors gloried in this kind of vandalism, using the old churches as quarries and destroying the coats of arms of famous families which were cut in stone on the facades of their former houses and in their chapels in the cathedral. One which they left, on a house on Mercedes street, adjoining the government building, was obliterated in 1907 by the erection of a balcony. Since the declaration of independence ignorance and negligence have been responsible for much damage and the few administrations which took an interest in the old monuments needed all their money for military purposes. Ancient bastions have been needlessly razed, inscriptions effaced and no steps taken for the preservation of such memorials as remained. In 1883 a concession for the improvement of Santo Domingo harbor even provided that the concessionnaire might tear down the ruins belonging to the state and use the material for filling purposes; happily he was able to carry out but little of this part of the contract. The great majority of the brick and stone structures of Santo Domingo are ancient houses and convents preserved or rebuilt with more or less alteration. In some cases behind walls and doorways of great age are little huts of the poor. Though many signs of the past have thus disappeared, many still remain. It is to be hoped that the American authorities in Santo Domingo will be less indifferent to the preservation of ancient monuments than has been the case in other West Indian countries.

The most interesting ancient building is the ma.s.sive ruin known as the "House of the Admiral" or "House of Columbus," which even now, after centuries of neglect and decay, gives eloquent testimony of former greatness. It was built soon after 1509 by Diego Columbus, the son of the great navigator, on a height overlooking the Ozama River. Here Diego Columbus governed with regal splendor and here most of his children were born. It was the home of his widow, Maria de Toledo, until her death in 1549. Here also their son Louis Columbus lived for many years and embarked on two of his mad marriages. Another son, Cristobal, who was in the government employ in Santo Domingo, also seems to have lived in this house, after Louis went to Spain in 1551.

On Cristobal's death in 1571 and that of Louis in 1572, it pa.s.sed to Cristobal's son Diego. From the date of this Diego's death in 1578, when the direct male line of the Discoverer's descendants became extinct, the history of the house becomes obscure: it was sequestered by court decree in the course of the long inheritance litigation between the members of the Columbus family and appears to have been awarded in 1583 to the Admiral of Aragon, son of a sister of Louis and Cristobal, and in 1605 to Nuno de Portugal, grandson of another sister; the former may have sojourned there temporarily, but it is doubtful whether the latter or any of his descendants ever visited Santo Domingo. There is reason to believe that it was occupied for a time by the family of Luis de Avila, judge of Santo Domingo City, who was married to a daughter of Cristobal and whose children were still living in the colony at the end of the sixteenth century. When in 1790 a descendant of this Avila was at length awarded the last vestiges of the Columbus honors, no attention seems to have been given to this house, which was then as complete a ruin as at present, though it was in better condition and the arcade supporting the front porch was still extant.

The edifice is built of stone blocks; porches supported by graceful arches were once an attractive feature; the windows and princ.i.p.al doorways were embellished with handsome arabesques; and Oviedo and other chroniclers dwell at length on the magnificence of the interior.

They especially refer to the beauty and value of a sculpture showing the arms of Castile, located in the great reception hall behind the viceroy's throne. At the present time the building is reduced to a mere sh.e.l.l, roofless and windowless; in a part of its interior there is a little palm thatch shelter for stabling horses; while the court yard and terrace reek with offal from dirty cabins round about.

At the foot of the house of Columbus is part of the old city wall erected in 1537 and of which numerous portions remain intact, though all traces of the moat have disappeared. The old city was in the form of a trapezium occupying an area of a caballeria or about 200 acres, and the wall on the north side, provided with numerous redoubts and watch towers, was much the longest, the western wall being the shortest. Santo Domingo is one of the cities of the Spanish main which lay claim to the story that when the accounts for the city's walls were laid before the king of Spain, he went, to the window and gazed at the horizon, saying he was "looking for the reflection of those walls, for they must be built of gold, they cost so much." Judging by the relative size of the walls, the story should rather be awarded to Cartagena, in Colombia, or possibly to another city, but Santo Domingo's walls are ma.s.sive enough to have justified the Spanish king in squinting at the horizon, at least. The ancient gates which were formerly closed from sunset to sunrise, still remain, but no longer afford the only means of ingress and egress as breaches have been made in the walls at most street terminations. The most famous of the old gates is the "Puerta del Conde," "Gate of the Count," so called because it was constructed by the Count of Penalva, Governor of Santo Domingo, about 1655, though the bastion through which it leads is as old as the city wall. It was here that the cry of independence was raised on February 27, 1844, and it is therefore regarded as the cradle of Dominican independence and its official name is "Bulwark of the twenty-seventh of February." Another important gate is the "Gate of San Diego," also called "Gate of the Admiral," near the ruins of Diego Columbus' house and affording communication with the wharves on the Ozama River. It is one of the original three gates of the city. Up the river, near the lumber market, is a very old ceiba tree to which it is claimed Columbus once tied up his vessel. Still further up the river is a spring the enclosure about which is said to have been built by Diego Columbus.

"La Fuerza," the fort and barracks, is situated at the southeast corner of the city. According to an inscription over the gate it was built in the year 1783. Within its enclosure on a bluff at the place where the Ozama empties into the sea, rises the ancient citadel, the "Torre del Homenaje," "Tower of Homage" the enormously thick walls of which were erected not later than 1504. There are many who affirm that it was built before 1500, although the town was then situated on the other side of the river, and a cell with a small barred window is pointed out as the cell in which Bobadilla imprisoned Columbus before sending him to Spain in chains. Others claim that recently-discovered old foundation-walls on the east side of the river were the foundations of the building in which Columbus was confined. "In that case," Dominican wags observe, "the Tower of Homage is the place where he would have been confined if it had then been erected." In any event the tower and the terraces below it are the oldest fortifications constructed by white men in America. Cortez and Pizarro, Velazquez, Ponce de Leon, Narvaez and many others pa.s.sed out of the Ozama River under the shadow of this building, full of hope for the future. Within its somber walls have been immured many an Indian chief in the time of the conquest and many a revolutionist in later days. The tower proper has been for years a political prison, while around the courtyard at its base on the riverside, is the common jail.

The churches form an important connecting link between old and new Santo Domingo. Of these the most beautiful and imposing is the cathedral, built in what may be called Ibero-Romanesque style. As early as 1506 Ferdinand and Isabella ordered its erection, in 1512 a grant of revenue was made and two years later the work of construction was begun. In one of the chapels is a large rough-hewn mahogany cross on which is painted the legend: "This is the first sign planted in the center of this field to mark the beginning of this magnificent temple in the year MDXIV." The work progressed slowly; an inscription in the doorway leading to the plaza states that the church was completed to that point in 1527 and another inscription in the old choir, torn down in 1877, stated that the building was finished in 1540. It is probable that the original plans called for an even loftier building. One of the towers first projected was begun, but it was never concluded and the belfry is still a temporary one. Of late years there have been attempts to provide for the completion of this tower by popular subscription. The building has been damaged repeatedly by earthquakes and the repairs made have changed its original outer appearance on the plaza side. In its roof there is still lodged a cannon-ball fired into the city by a Spanish battery during the siege of 1809.

In the interior, great pillars of a soft dark-red tint support the high groined arches and the effect is severe and impressive. The altar at the head of the nave is beautifully inlaid with wrought silver and is surmounted by the coat of arms of Spain placed there by order of Charles V, a relic of Spanish days which was hidden away while the Haitians were in possession of the city. On the altar platform a marble slab indicates the place where the bones of Columbus were found in 1877, another slab the former location of the remains taken to Cuba in 1795 as the remains of Columbus, and still another the resting place of Louis Columbus, the grandson of the Discoverer. At the end of the nave, near the entrance door, is the airy marble monument beneath which is guarded the casket that contains the remains of the Discoverer of America.

The cathedral like the other churches is made more interesting by the ancient epitaphs on slabs in the pavement and walls, marking the burial places of persons famous in the history of the island. In one of the lateral chapels, which belonged to the Bastidas family, the resting place of Bishop Bastidas, who in the early days was bishop in Venezuela, Porto Rico and Santo Domingo, is marked by a large marble rec.u.mbant figure of a bishop and the chapel is therefore known as "the chapel of the stone bishop." Nearby is the tomb of his father, that Rodrigo de Bastidas who was imprisoned by Bobadilla, and an epitaph full of abbreviations which reads:

"Here lies the very magnificent Sir Don Rodrigo de Bastidas, first Adelantado and Governor and Captain-General of Santa Marta, who in the year 1502 discovered Terra-firma by order of the Catholic Sovereigns from Cape Vela to Darien: he died March 28, 1527."

Close by is another epitaph:

"Here lies the virtuous, Christian and religious lady Dona Isabel Rodrigo de Romera, native of the n.o.ble town of Carmona, who was wife of the Adelantado Don Rodrigo de Bastidas and mother of the most reverend Bishop of San Juan, Don Rodrigo de Bastidas. She died September 15, 1533. May she rest in peace."

And in Latin:

"I believe that my Redeemer lived and that on the judgment day I shall be resurrected."

In another chapel is a slab ten feet long with an elaborate coat of arms, surmounted by a helmet with flowing plumes, and having an inscription reading:

"Here lies the magnificent knight Diego Caballero, councilor of this Island of Espanola, first secretary of the first Royal Audiencia which the Catholic Sovereigns established in these Indies. He died January 22, 1553." Surrounding this inscription is another:

"Likewise lies here the generous lady Isabel Bacan, his good wife: she died in the year 1551."

Above is a verse stating that he flourished with the strength given him by G.o.d, and on an adjoining stone are the words;

"I have ended my cares. Hope and fortune, remain and seek others to mock."

On another tombstone is the inscription:

"This tomb belongs to Don Francisco de Almansa, canon of this holy princ.i.p.al church and commissioner of the Holy Inquisition, and to his heirs."

There are many other interesting inscriptions. In one of the chapels is an artistic gem, a well preserved picture of Our Lady of Antigua, presented by Ferdinand and Isabella who are represented in an att.i.tude of devotion at the foot of the Virgin. It is probably by Antonio del Rincon, their court painter. Other very old and obscure paintings in the church are ascribed to Velazquez or Murillo. Another chapel, adorned with the Dominican coat of arms in marble relief, is the resting place of Dominican celebrities.

The oldest Christian church in the new world was that of San Nicolas, founded by Governor Nicolas de Ovando in 1502. It was suffered to go to ruin, then restored and used as a military hospital and then again abandoned to decay until, overgrown with weeds and almost roofless, it was latterly used by a blacksmith as his workshop. The suggestion was frequently made that it be converted into a museum of Dominican antiquities, but the matter was neglected too long and in 1909 the historic building was condemned and the front portion demolished, but the groined arch over the presbytery remains.

The most picturesque ruin of the city is that of the church of San Francisco, erected by the Franciscan monks about 1504 at the most conspicuous point in the city, and which is now, after the destruction of San Nicolas church, the oldest church ruin in America. It was the largest church in old Santo Domingo. Here were deposited and probably still rest, the remains of Bartholomew Columbus, the brother of the Discoverer. The church and convent, like several other churches of the city, were badly damaged by the earthquake of 1751 but were rebuilt better than before. When the Haitians came the church was abandoned; in 1824 it was a.s.signed to the negro immigrants from the United States as a Methodist church, but it was allowed to go to complete ruin and much of its masonry was utilized by the Haitian rulers. A small part of the monastery has been rebuilt for use as an asylum for the insane.

The Franciscan community was one of the wealthiest of the city, and fronting on the city's princ.i.p.al market still stands a large house formerly belonging to it and known as the "Casa del Cordon," "House of the Cord," because of a Franciscan's girdle hewn in stone over the doorway. Tradition says that Diego Columbus resided here while his palace was under construction.

The other larger churches have all been restored and among them may be mentioned the church of St. Dominic or Santo Domingo founded in 1507, with ma.s.sive walls and arches. It contains numerous tombs belonging to families that flourished in the island in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but most of the inscriptions are rudely carved.

A slab in one of the chapels shows a coat of arms with thirteen stars; there is no inscription further than a short Latin quotation from the 26th psalm, but the stone is supposed to date from the latter part of the sixteenth century and to mark the grave of Lope de Bardeci, the founder of the chapel. Other churches are the lofty Mercedes church by the side of the ruined monastery of the friars of Mercy; the church of Regina Angelorum, the s.p.a.cious building adjoining which, now used by the courts of justice, was formerly a nunnery; that of St. Clara, formerly a nunnery and rebuilt from ruin in 1885 by the sisters of charity; the church of San Lazaro, at the leper asylum; the quaint old church of Santa Barbara; and the chapel of San Miguel, founded about 1520 by Miguel de Pasamonte, the royal treasurer, an inveterate enemy of the Columbus family. The old Jesuit church is used as a theater and the former Jesuit convent is occupied by business houses and private residences.

The main plaza of Santo Domingo is a pretty square planted with flowers and shade trees. In the center stands a bronze statue of Columbus who is represented with the flag of Spain taking possession of Quisqueya for his sovereigns. At the foot of the pedestal is an Indian writing thereon the words found engraved on the box that contained what are believed to be Columbus' remains: "Ill'tre. y Es'do. Varon D'n Cristoval Colon," "Ill.u.s.trious and n.o.ble man Don Cristopher Columbus." On the south side of the plaza is the cathedral, on the west side the old city hall, recently renovated and provided with an ugly tower, and on the east side the government building, erected during the Haitian occupation with bricks from the San Francisco and Santa Clara churches. Popular superst.i.tion therefore regards this building as unlucky and points out that one of the Baez brothers was killed in a revolution when the family resided here. The edifice was for years occupied by all the government offices until the renovation of the ancient palace of government. Adjoining is the small building in which the Dominican Congress meets. It occupies a site on which in the olden days stood a prison, the walls of which still remain behind the Congress Hall. The s.p.a.cious building known as the old palace of government is one of the most ancient edifices in the city. Its cornerstone was laid about 1504 by Ovando and it contained the offices of the Spanish governors-general in colonial times. Through neglect it was permitted to fall to ruin but since 1900 it has gradually been renovated. Nearby is a large sundial, erected in 1753.

The old palace of government is on Colon street, which was in the early days called "Calle de las Damas," "Street of the Ladies,"

because on it resided the ladies who came from Spain with the wife of Diego Columbus. It is to be regretted that the old street names which were pregnant with memories of the past have been so lightly changed.

At present most of the streets are named after events, battles or persons prominent in the more recent history of the country.

The streets of the capital are not quite so narrow as those of Havana, San Juan and other old Spanish cities. After years of neglect the princ.i.p.al streets have at length been placed in excellent condition and the steam roller has even invaded the side streets. The sidewalks are generally narrow, being only about three feet in width, and as munic.i.p.al supervision over them has not been carefully exercised, there are differences in grade along the sidewalks of certain streets and in pa.s.sing along it is necessary to go up and down steps. Along the improved streets, however, new sidewalks and gutters have been constructed. The style of architecture of the houses with their thick walls and iron-barred windows makes the streets resemble those of other Spanish-American cities. Among the finest buildings of the city may be counted the palatial quarters of the young men's club "Casino de la Juventud" and of the Union Club, of which the most prominent men of the city, especially merchants, are members. Leading out of the city are two boulevards along which are fine residences of wealthier Dominicans.

A city of such history naturally abounds with popular legends. Stories are current of a network of ancient subterranean pa.s.sages which are said to connect the princ.i.p.al churches and the fort, and knowledge of the location of which has been lost because their entrances have either been walled up or become obstructed by debris. Local historians deride such tales, though admitting that underground pa.s.sages may have existed at isolated points. It is related that not many years ago a woman was digging in her garden on a street which pa.s.ses the ruins of Mercedes convent, when the earth gave way and an aperture became visible. Her husband investigated and found a subterranean pa.s.sage which led across the street: and directly under the convent ruins, where it was choked up with stones and earth. Other stories refer to deep, forgotten vaults said to exist under many buildings. Popular rumor, morbid when dealing with President Heureaux, affirms that in vaults under the ancient mansion which was converted into a palace for him, the remains of some of his victims were found. In vaults and dungeons under the barracks of La Fuerza the Spaniards in retiring from the island at the close of the eighteenth century, secreted part of their military supplies. Many years later an old man who had a.s.sisted in walling up the stores revealed their existence to President Baez and he, when besieged in Santo Domingo in 1857 brought them out and utilized them against the revolutionists. The old mortars and grenades were found in excellent condition and at first caused a panic among the besiegers who thought the sh.e.l.ls had fallen from the sky.

The favorite stories are those relating to buried treasure. During the vicissitudes through which the island has pa.s.sed and especially during the troublous period at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century many persons who left the country first secreted their valuables in the belief that their absence would be only temporary. They did not return, their property pa.s.sed into other hands and the treasure was forgotten. Occasionally, too, people buried their money for safe-keeping and died without imparting the secret.

There have been authenticated cases of treasure-trove, especially in the first half of the nineteenth century. The finds have almost always been accidental, as when in hanging a hammock a nail gave way and revealed a cavity, or in rebuilding a hidden orifice was disclosed. In many popular stories a foreigner with a map plays a part. According to one of these tales a stranger appeared some years ago near Mercedes church taking measurements, so that the neighbors thought him insane.

He finally approached the owner of one of the houses and offered to rent it. When his increased offers were refused he drew from his pocket a paper which he said showed the location of a hidden treasure and offered the houseowner a share if he were permitted to make the search. The cupidity of the other was aroused and he would agree to take nothing less than three-fourths of the whole, whereupon the stranger in a rage lit a match and burnt the paper before the horrified houseowner's eyes, exclaiming: "Now you will never find it."

For months afterwards the proprietor delved through the ground below the house and perforated the walls in scores of places, but the prediction of the stranger would probably have been verified had it not been for an accident. Some four years later, after a heavy rain, a woman of the neighborhood came to draw water from the cistern of this particular house. As the rope stuck in the pulley she gave a tug, slipped and fell into the cistern to her waist in water. Her screams brought a.s.sistance and as she was drawn out it was noticed that in her descent, she had loosened several bricks in the wall of the cistern.

An examination revealed an aperture large enough to hold a man, and filled with plate, jewelry and coins.

In another story the stranger was more fortunate. He rented a small house, also on Mercedes street, paying several months' rent in advance. When after a few days the house was found closed it was thought the stranger had taken a trip to the country, but when two and three months pa.s.sed and the tenant did not reappear, the proprietress applied to the authorities. The door was forced open and in the middle of the room a deep hole was found, at the bottom of which was an empty strongbox, while smaller boxes and the pick and shovel used in the excavation lay scattered around. On a table in the corner lay a parchment with a map that showed the location of the strongbox.

Further investigation revealed that the stranger a week after his disappearance took pa.s.sage on a schooner for a foreign port.

The fortunate finders of such treasures have generally kept silence in order to avoid the possibility of adverse claimants, and when discovered would minimize the find. Popular rumor still designates several houses as containing hidden treasures. One of them, situated on Billini Plaza, near the cathedral, has all but been torn to pieces by tenants in vain efforts to penetrate the secret. In other cases the rumors are more vague. General Ferrand, the energetic French governor of Santo Domingo, is reported to have buried the state treasure before departing in 1808 on the disastrous expedition in which he lost his life in Palo Hincado, and in more than one place excavations have been made to seek it.

Outside the walls of the city is the cemetery, which is pretty and clean and has many vaults and varicolored plants. The most conspicuous objects are the crosses which surmount the graves and the iron fences surrounding many lots, with a little lantern at each corner. The lanterns are lighted up on All Soul's Day, when people flock to the cemetery and decorate the graves of their departed friends with wreaths and flowers.

An interesting monument of old Santo Domingo is the small fortress of San Geronimo, which stands deserted on the ocean sh.o.r.e about three miles from the city. It was built in the early days of Spanish colonization as a protection against foes who might land up the coast and is a good specimen of medieval military architecture, with its walls of immense thickness, its watch towers, its deep moat and its dark dungeons. In revolutions it was usually garrisoned and has been taken and retaken unnumbered times, and in 1903 it was bombarded by a Dominican cruiser.

In the midst of its monuments of the past Santo Domingo throbs with the life of the present. Being one of the princ.i.p.al ports and the seat of the government it is the busiest city of the Republic. Its docks, markets and business streets are always congested with workers and traders.

_San Carlos_ is a suburb of Santo Domingo City, adjoining the same on the northwest, and since 1910 forming an integral part thereof. It was founded towards the end of the seventeenth century by Canary Islanders. Owing to its proximity to Santo Domingo and as part of the town overlooks the capital, it has in all the sieges of Santo Domingo been held by the besiegers and lost heavily. The fifteen days' siege by the negro emperor Dessalines in 1805 caused serious damage; in the siege of eight months in 1808 by Juan Sanchez Ramirez it was almost entirely ruined; in the fifteen days' siege of 1849 by Santana it was burned; in the nine months' siege of 1857 by Santana it was again partially destroyed and since that time in every siege it has sustained damage. In the two months' siege in the beginning of 1904 the church and other buildings were damaged by sh.e.l.ls, and several blocks of dwellings were burned to the ground. Yet the town has always risen, phoenix-like, from its ashes. One of the points of interest is an old public cistern of great size and depth. Near San Carlos is the picturesque grotto of Santa Ana, said to have been an Indian sanctuary.