“On the day of departure of the main body from Messina, June 11, I gave a lunch in the dining-room of the hotel we had built, to which were invited Lieutenant-General Del Rosso, commanding the division, with his brigadiers and chief of staff, Major Andrea Graziani (since promoted to lieutenant-colonel, for exceptional services rendered at the time of the earthquake), the new Prefect, Commendatore Buganza, Pro-Sindaco Commendatore Martino, Captain Pericoli, the senior naval officer, representatives of the Genio Civile, other officials of the Government, our own party, including Mr. Bowdoin and Mr. Wood, from Taormina, and our faithful contractors, Signor Pella and Signor Saraconi, the painter. In all, about seventy persons sat down to a horseshoe table built for the occasion. The room was freely decorated [Illustration: GRAND HOTEL REGINA ELENA AND CHURCH OF SANTA CROCE, AMERICAN VILLAGE, MESSINA. _Page 478._] with flowers and green, the two national ensigns draped together at the head of the table; and, barring a rather slow service, due to the fact that the cooking was done in our camp kitchens four hundred yards away, this first meal in the hotel was a success. It being our last in Messina, there was a warm interchange of sentiments of the most friendly nature, the Prefect saying that the occasion marked the beginning of a new life in Messina, and the Pro-Sindaco, in the name of the Municipal Council, conferring the honorary citizenship of Messina upon Lieutenant Buchanan, Ensigns Wilcox and Spofford, Dr. Donelson, Mr. Elliott, and myself. When I rose to bid them farewell and to commend to their kind offices Ensign Spofford, who was remaining behind for a little while, General Del Rosso rose and stretched his hand across the table to Spofford, saying: ‘You are our comrade.’ “The main body, however, left Messina shortly after our farewell lunch, by the five o’clock ferry, amid a popular and official demonstration that will never be forgotten by any of us. “What our American party built in the earthquake area may be seen in the following summary; and to quote some of the things said of it, a translation of the decree of honorary citizenship, and a letter lately received from the Little Sisters of the Poor, are added. “Allowing an average of six to a family, which is not high for the people who occupy our cottages, the number we built would house twelve thousand; and six thousand more could be provided for by the remaining thousand for which material was provided. “The church would easily hold three hundred or three hundred and fifty people; fifty or sixty sewing women or other people could work in the _laboratorio_, comfortably; and seventy-five to eighty children in each schoolhouse. The _laboratorio_ and schools were ceiled and plastered, and built on concrete foundations. All these large buildings are permanent structures, and should last for years.