The services of the evening being ended, I inquired of the brethren concerning the amount of provisions which they had on hand for the journey; and, to my surprise, I ascertained that we had on board, besides twenty grown persons, thirty children, who were almost destitute of food. This was unaccountable to me at first, but I afterwards learned that they had converted their substance into clothing, expecting that those who were in better circumstances would support them, as well as defray their traveling expenses; those, however, from whom they expected the most assistance, disappointed them, consequently, the burden was thrown entirely upon my shoulders. From this time forward, I furnished the whole fifty persons with food from day to day. I soon discovered among the mothers, a kind of carelessness with regard to their children, even when their lives were in danger. So I called them together, and endeavored to impress upon their minds the importance of doing their duty to their children; that in such a place as this, especially, they ought to keep them constantly by their side; that they should consider that children were given to them for a blessing, and if they did not treat them as such, they would be taken from them. Still they were negligent, and excused themselves by saying, that their children were disobedient. I told the sisters that I could manage their children, and if they were not better controlled by their mothers, I should take the control of them. I then called the children around me, and said to them, "Now, children, mark what I say to you. When I come up stairs, and raise my hand, you must, every one of you, run to me as fast as you can. Will you do as I tell you?" "Yes," they replied, with one unanimous voice. And they strictly kept their faith to the end of the journey. On getting about half way to Buffalo, the canal broke. This gave rise to much murmuring and discontentment, which was expressed in terms like the following: "Well, the canal is broke now, and here we are, and here we are likely to be, for we can go no further. We have left our homes, and here we have no means of getting a living, consequently we shall have to starve." "No, no," said I, "you will not starve, brethren, nor anything of that sort; only do be patient and stop your murmuring. I have no doubt but the hand of the Lord is over us for good; perhaps it is best for us to be here a short time. It is quite probable that the boats cannot leave Buffalo harbor on account of the ice; if so, the town must inevitably be crowded with families, in which case it would be next to impossible for us to get into a comfortable house. Are we not in far better circumstances in our present situation?"