"The most illustrious Bishop, in the presence of the gentlemen above
designated and of a numerous concourse, declares: that the holy
cathedral being undergoing repairs under the direction of the reverend
Canon Francisco Javier Billini, and it having come to his notice that
according to tradition and notwithstanding what appears from public
documents with reference to the transfer of the remains of the Admiral
Christopher Columbus to the city of Havana in the year seventeen
hundred and ninety-five the said remains might still be in the place
where they had been deposited and as such place the right side of the
sanctuary was designated, under the spot occupied by the archbishop's
chair; with the desire of clearing up the matters which tradition had
carried to him, he authorized the reverend Canon Billini, upon his
request, to make the necessary explorations; and as the latter was
doing so with two workmen on the morning of this day, he discovered at
a depth of two palms, more or less, the beginning of a vault which
permitted part of a metal box to be seen; that immediately the said
Canon Billini ordered the chief sexton, Jesus Maria Troncoso, to go to
the archiepiscopal palace and inform His Grace of the result of the
investigations, also informing the Minister of the Interior,
requesting their presence without loss of time; that immediately His
Grace proceeded to the holy cathedral where he found Jesus Maria
Castillo, civil engineer, in charge of the repairs to this temple and
two workmen who, in company with Canon Billini, guarded the small
excavation which had been made, and at the same time Luis Cambiaso
arrived, called by the said Canon Billini; that having personally made
certain of the existence of the vault as well as that it contained the
box to which Canon Billini made reference and an inscription being
discovered on the upper part of what appeared to be the lid, he
ordered that things be left as they were and that the doors of the
temple be closed, the keys being confided to the reverend Canon
Billini; proposing to invite, as he did invite, His Excellency the
great citizen, President of the Republic, General Buenaventura Baez,
his Cabinet, the consular corps and the other civil and military
authorities named in the beginning of this certificate, in order to
proceed with all due solemnity to the extraction of the box and give
all required authenticity to the result of the investigation; and
having advised the authorities, by their order municipal policemen
were stationed at each one of the closed doors of the temple.
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