Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 24.djvu/198

 178 Charles Henry Carey up for the present and probably shall be for the winter, as a kind of prisoner, so rainy, no traveling, not a horse to ride ; but very few friends to visit ; one great comfort — a plenty of good books ; with them I am busy. Saturday, 23. We have very dark and rainy weather ; have not seen the face of the sun for more than a week ; for five weeks, I think, we have not had 48 hours at a time without rain. The Williamette River is very high ; many sawlogs are lost ; some fears lest the water may do damage to the miller in this place. Since Doct. Babcock left, I have done but little. I have suffered considerable pain from writing so steadily before he left ; have seldom taken a pen in hand since. Am satisfied that the winter will not pass as pleasantly as it would provided I could exercise more, especially on horseback. Without it rains day and night and hence I spend in my chamber day after day, night after night ; plenty of good books &c. Yet I hope this retirement will be of some use. But after all the mind somehow is prone to be like the weather, dark and gloomy. Thursday, 28. We have very high water in the Wil- liamette; considerable damage done; perhaps more than two thousand saw logs washed away; one house and store washed down, being founded on sand ; fish house belong- ing to Hudson Bay Company, with perhaps sixty barrels of salted salmon gone ; considerable other damage ; water said never to have been so high since the white inhabi- tants have been here. Fears have been raised in refer- ence to other buildings and property to a considerable extent lest the high and raging waters should take much more property down stream. Today the waters assuage ; fears of community abate. It is not safe to deposit treas- ure upon earth in any land especially in this land; one part of the year there is great danger of its being burned up ; the other part of the year great danger of its being drowned out or swept down stream by the winter almost unceasing rains and consequent overflowing streams.