There is much correspondence concerning the proposed cable from Spain or Portugal by various routes to the West Indies and thence to the United States, but nothing came of it.

The rest of their stay in Porto Rico was greatly enjoyed by all in spite of certain drawbacks incidental to the tropics, to one of which he alludes in a letter to his sister-in-law, Mrs. Goodrich, who was then in Europe.  Speaking of his wife he says:  “She is dreadfully troubled with a plague which, if you have been in Italy, I am sure you are no stranger to. ‘Pulci, pulci.’ If you have not had a colony of them settled upon you, and quartered, and giving you no quarter, you have been an exception to travellers in Italy.  Well, I will pit any two pulci of Porto Rico against any ten you can bring from Italy, and I should be sure to see them bite the dust before the bites of our Porto Rico breed.”

His letters are filled with apothegms and reflections on life in general and his own in particular, and they alone would almost fill a book.  In a letter to Mr. Kendall, of March 30, we find the following:—­

“I had hoped to return from honors abroad to enjoy a little rest from litigation at home, but, if I must take up arms, I hope to be able to use them efficiently in self-defense, and in a chivalrous manner as becometh a ‘Knight.’  I have no reason to complain of my position abroad, but I suppose, as I am not yet under the ground, honors to a living inventor must have their offset in the attacks of envy and avarice.

“‘Wrath is cruel, but who can stand before envy?’ says the wise man.  The contest with the envious is indeed an annoyance, but, if one’s spirit is under the right guidance and revenge does not actuate the strife, victory is very certain.  My position is now such before the world that I shall use it rather to correct my own temper than to make it a means of arrogant exultation.”

He and his family left the island in the middle of April, 1859, and in due time reached their Poughkeepsie home.  The “Daily Press” of that city gave the following account of the homecoming:—­

“For some time previous to the hour at which the train was to arrive hundreds of people were seen flocking from all directions to the railroad depot, both in carriages and on foot, and when the train did arrive, and the familiar and loved form of Professor Morse was recognized on the platform of the car, the air was rent with the cheers of the assembled multitude.  As soon as the cheers subsided Professor Morse was approached by the committee of reception and welcomed to the country of his birth and to the home of his adoption.

“A great procession was then formed composed of the carriages of citizens.  The sidewalks were crowded with people on foot, the children of the public schools, which had been dismissed for the occasion, being quite conspicuous among them.  Amid the ringing of bells, the waving of flags, and the gratulations of the people, the procession proceeded through a few of the principal streets, and then drove to the beautiful residence of Professor Morse, the band playing, as they entered the grounds, ‘Sweet Home’ and then ‘Auld Lang Syne.’