As soon as we had got fairly started, our sons began to have calls to preach, and they directly discovered that if they should yield to every solicitation, our journey would be a preaching mission of no inconsiderable length, which was quite inconsistent with the number and situation of our family. They therefore stopped preaching while on their journey, and we proceeded as fast as possible, under the disadvantageous circumstances with which we were frequently surrounded. Sometimes we lay in our tents, through driving storms; at other times we were traveling on foot through marshes and quagmires. Once in particular, we lay all night exposed to the rain, which fell in torrents, so that when I arose in the morning, I found that my clothing was perfectly saturated with the rain. However, I could not mend the matter by a change of dress, for the rain was still falling rapidly, and I wore my clothes in this situation, three days; in consequence of which I took a severe cold, so that when we arrived at the Mississippi river, I was unable to walk or sit up. After crossing this river, we stopped at a negro hut, a most unlovely place, yet the best shelter we could find. This hut was the birth-place of Catharine's son Alvin. The next day my husband succeeded in getting a comfortable place, about four miles distant, for Catharine and her infant, and they were carried thither on a lumber wagon, the same day. We then agreed that Sophronia, and her husband, McLerie, should stop and take care of Catharine, while Mr. Smith and the remainder of the party, should take me, and make what speed they could to Huntsville. Our progress was but slow, for I was unable to travel far in a day, on account of a violent cough with which I was afflicted; however, we at length arrived there, and succeeded in getting a place where we could stay for some considerable length of time, if we should think proper to do so. The next morning after our arrival, the family being absent, I seized the opportunity to make an effort to get far enough from the house to pray without interruption. Accordingly I took a staff in each hand, and, by the assistance which they afforded me, I was enabled to reach a dense thicket, which lay some distance from the house. As soon as I was sufficiently rested to speak with ease, I commenced calling upon the Lord, beseeching him to restore me to health, as well as my daughter Catharine. I urged every claim which is afforded us by the Scriptures, and continued praying faithfully for three hours, at the end of which time I was relieved from every kind of pain; my cough left me, and I was well. At one o'clock, Wilkins J. Salisbury, Catharine's husband, came to Huntsville, and informed us that Catharine was so much better, that, if she had a carriage to ride in, she could proceed on her journey.