290 REVEREND EZRA FISHER
come with fatigue of body and anxiety of mind. We have assumed vast responsibilities, yet our strength is weakness and I fear but a very few realize the amount of responsi- bilities we have assumed; and then we must take one man in part from the appropriate duties of the ministry till we can obtain relief from the States. Yet we cannot do less, if we do anything. The public will have no confidence in our meeting and passing resolutions while we do not act. Schools are greatly needed; our hope of successful operation in Ore- gon is in the youth. Other denominations are in advance of us, and the Romans are already at work. Well, by the grace of God, without which we are nothing, we must try. Pres- ent emergencies alone reconcile me to the task. I shall probably be called to preach almost every Sabbath and have thrown under my immediate instruction a portion of the most promising youth in the Territory. I confidently hope relief will be speedily sent from the States in the person of a well qualified professional teacher to fill the place.
29th. Attended the monthly meeting of the church at Oregon City, preached on the occasion, and on the 30th preached again. The subject, The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Congregation attentive. In the evening addressed Br. Johnson's Sabbath school.
Oct. 15th. Having succeeded in procuring a passage down the river, I went on board a whale boat, the best method of conveyance we have as yet on our waters, and commenced my journey homeward. 19th. After four days of hard rowing and three nights' lodging on the ground, I reached home and found my family in usual health and en- joying the smiles of a gracious providence. The scenery along the Columbia from the mouth of the Willamette down- ward is highly romantic. For the first sixty miles the bot- tom lands spread out from one to eight or ten miles in width, interspersed with prairies covered with the most lux- uriant grasses and weeds, but subject to occasional inunda- tions in June and July. The timber of these bottom lands
