cloches, crossed to Lynchburg. Here they held services, blessed the mar- riage of Captain Thomas Earl and Ann Careher, and baptized their four children. Since the horses sent from Houston a week before had not arrived and Captain Earl had none to spare, it was decided to go to Harrisburg by rowboat. This proved a Herculean task. Hardly had the two missionaries set out, when they discovered the old boat leaked badly. Odin was kept busy bailing water for the next four hours, while Timon pulled desperately on the oars to travel a scant two miles per hour against the wind, the waves, and the rain, as they made their way up Buffalo Bayou. Numbed and exhausted, they gave up in despair and abandoned the boat to proceed on foot to a near-by farmhouse. They bought an old horse, loaded their baggage, and waded through ten miles of flooded prairie to Houston. As they were crossing a swollen stream, one of the saddlebags burst open. Already half-frozen, the two found it more difficult on that account to rescue the contents of the bag. Not until late on January 22 did they arrive in Houston. In spite of their exhaustion, they contac~ed the parishioners, set up an altar, and next morning said Mass before taking leave to contin~e their journey to Nacogdoches. The rain and the cold continued unabated. The two missionaries went by way of Montgomery, San Jacinto, Huntsville, and Cincinnati to Crockett, where they came to the old Spanish trail which they followed to Nacogdoches. On the way they endured incredible hard- ships, having to swim their horses over numerous swollen, icy streams. In spite of the weather they said Mass at every opportunity. After eight days of toil, they reached Nacogdoches at dusk on January 30, 1841. Undaunted, they immediately made arrangements to secure a hall and to spread the word that there would be services Sunday morn- ing. Adolphus Sterne, one of the leaders of the distant town, wrote in his diary that night, "The Pope's Legate ... arrived late this evening; put up at the Tavern; too late to see him after the Lodge closed." 56 Although it was raining hard, Mass was well attended at the Stone House and the observant Mr. Sterne noted that the "largest and most respectable congregation was present." Evening services were held as announced. "The rain was pouring down in torrents, yet the house was crowded with ladies and gentlemen." Timon, "the Vicar General of the Pope," and Odin, "the Bishop that will be of Texas," as Sterne 56 Harriet Smither (editor), "Diary of Adolphus Sterne," Tit, Q11ar/4rly, XXXI, 185.
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