o our steamer,
which was now bound for Samana Bay, and thence for the capital, Santo
Domingo. Let me say in passing that it is quite incorrect to speak of
the island as "San Domingo," This might be done if Domingo were the name
of a saint, but Santo Domingo really means "Holy Sunday," and is so
named in commemoration of the first landing of Columbus upon the island.
Of Samana itself I will speak hereafter. After two more days of rough
sea travel we were very glad to reach the capital, where the Palacio
Nacional had been assigned as our residence.

This was a spacious building surrounding a rectangular court. A guard of
soldiers occupied the lower story, and the whole of the second floor was
placed at our disposal. Furniture there was little or none, but we had
brought with us a supply of beds, bedding, and articles necessary for
the table. The town afforded us chairs and tables, and with the help of
our friend, Miss Paddock, we were soon comfortably installed in our new
quarters. The fleas at first gave us terrible torment, but a copious
washing of floors and the use of some native plant, the name of which I
cannot remember, diminished this inconvenience, to which also we
gradually became accustomed.

The population of Santo Domingo is much mixed, and I could not see that
the blacks were looked down upon by the whites, the greater part of whom
gave evidence of some admixture of African blood. In the harbor of the
capital, before leaving the steamer, I had had some conversation with
one Francois, a man of color, who had come on board to secure the
services of one of our fellow-passengers, an aged clergyman, for his
church. The old gentleman insisted that he was past preaching, on
account of his age and infirmities. I began to question Francois about
his church, and found that it consisted of a small congregation of very
poor colored people, all Americans by birth or descent. They held their
services only on Sunday evenings, having neither clothes nor shoes fit
for appearance in the daytime. Their real minister had died, and an
elder who had taken his place was too lame to cross the river in order
to attend the services, so they had to do without preaching. I cannot
remember just how it came about, but I engaged to hold service for them
on Sunday evenings during my stay at the capital.

Behold me then, on my first Sunday evening, entering the little wooden
building with its mud floor. It boasted a mahogany pulpit of som