woman was digging in her garden on a street which passes the ruins of
Mercedes convent, when the earth gave way and an aperture became
visible. Her husband investigated and found a subterranean passage
which led across the street: and directly under the convent ruins,
where it was choked up with stones and earth. Other stories refer to
deep, forgotten vaults said to exist under many buildings. Popular
rumor, morbid when dealing with President Heureaux, affirms that in
vaults under the ancient mansion which was converted into a palace for
him, the remains of some of his victims were found. In vaults and
dungeons under the barracks of La Fuerza the Spaniards in retiring
from the island at the close of the eighteenth century, secreted part
of their military supplies. Many years later an old man who had
assisted in walling up the stores revealed their existence to
President Baez and he, when besieged in Santo Domingo in 1857 brought
them out and utilized them against the revolutionists. The old
mortars and grenades were found in excellent condition and at first
caused a panic among the besiegers who thought the shells had fallen
from the sky.

The favorite stories are those relating to buried treasure. During the
vicissitudes through which the island has passed and especially during
the troublous period at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of
the nineteenth century many persons who left the country first
secreted their valuables in the belief that their absence would be
only temporary. They did not return, their property passed into other
hands and the treasure was forgotten. Occasionally, too, people buried
their money for safe-keeping and died without imparting the secret.
There have been authenticated cases of treasure-trove, especially in
the first half of the nineteenth century. The finds have almost always
been accidental, as when in hanging a hammock a nail gave way and