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. [Illustration: SANCTUARY OF CATHEDRAL IN SEPTEMBER, 1877 (Scale; 1 centimeter = 1 meter)