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