is visit to
Samana. I found there a Methodist church with a settled pastor. I did
take part in an open-air service one Sunday afternoon. The place chosen
was well up on the side of a mountain, the assembly consisting entirely
of colored people. I arrived a little after time and found a zealous
elder speaking. When he saw me he said, "And now dat de lady hab come I
will _obdunk_ [abdicate] from de place."

A little school kept by the carpenter was not far from this spot. It
occupied a shed in a region magnificent with palms. I went one day, by
special arrangement, to speak to the pupils, who were of both sexes. The
ascent was so steep that I was glad to avail myself of the offer of a
steer with a straw saddle on his back, led by a youth of the
neighborhood. From the school I went to the hut of a colored woman, who
had requested the honor of entertaining me at lunch, and who waited upon
me with great good-will. While I was still resting in the shade of the
cabin a man appeared, leading two saddle horses and bearing a missive
from Dr. Howe, requesting my immediate return. I have elsewhere alluded
to this and to Dr. Howe's touching words, "Our dear, noble Sumner is no
more. Come home at once. I am much distressed."

My husband had been greatly chagrined by Mr. Sumner's conduct with
regard to the proposed annexation of Santo Domingo. The death of his
lifelong friend seemed to bring back all his old tenderness and he
grieved deeply over his loss.

Of the longevity of the negro population of Santo Domingo we heard
wonderful accounts. I myself, while in Samana, saw and spoke with a
colored woman who was said to have reached the age of one hundred and
thirty years. She was a native of Maryland, and had become a mother and
a grandmother before leaving the United States. In Samana she married
again and had a second set of children and grandchildren. These
particulars I learned from a daughter of her second marriage, herself a
woman of forty. The aged mother and grandmother came up to Samana during
my stay there to make some necessary purchases. Her figure was slender
and, as the French say, "_bien-prise_." Her only infirmity appeared to
be her deafness.

A curious custom in this small community was the consecration of all
houses as soon as completed. This was usually made the occasion of what
we term a house-warming. Friends were invited, and were expected to make
contributions of cake. The priest of the parish offered prayer