"Santo Domingo, December 21, 1795. Joaquin Garcia. Friar Fernando,
Archbishop of Santo Domingo. Gabriel de Aristizabal. Gregorio Savinon.
Jose Francisco Hidalgo."
The brief account of the remains when everything else was related with
such detail leads to the logical conclusion that there was no epitaph
on the vault and no inscription on the leaden plates found within. The
Spanish judicial chronicler's habit of minute description would not
have permitted the omission of such important particulars, if they
had existed.
The remains were transferred to Havana where their reception was even
more solemn than their embarkation in Santo Domingo. On January 19,
1796, they were landed amid the booming of guns, conducted in state by
the civil and military authorities and a large concourse to the plaza,
and deposited on a magnificent bier in the shadow of the column
erected where, according to tradition, the first mass was said in
Havana and the first municipal council met. Here the ark was formally
delivered to the Governor of Havana, who had it opened and its
contents inspected, whereupon it was again closed and transferred with
great pomp to the cathedral.
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