October 30 Friday – The Clemens family was at sea on the Princess Irene en route for Genoa, Italy.
Sam’s notebook:
Oct. 30. Refer to it. There should be no first-come take choice in location of chairs. The chair-space outside a stateroom shd be the property of the occupant. People under our ports chatter till 11—if these were our chairs we could have tranquillity, for we retire at 9.30.
The cattle-boat is the idea ship. She carries but 216 pasengers, & there is no crowding & no racket. Columbus had a heavy storm, & contracted with the Virgin that if she would save his ship (1493) he wd send a deputation in their shirt tails to do homage at her first shrine. Arrived at the Azores, he kept faith. The people were scandalized to see this gang of priests in their shirts, & drovce them back aboard. The Virgin did not destroy them. Yet it is a great compliment to call on a Virgin in your shirt-tail & it is strange that this one was so little touched by it.
The mail is thrown over in a barrel. Postage 10 cents. Time, 19 days. You can save money & a lot of time by going 3 days further.—to Gibraltar—& posting your letters there.
Such crowds of churches, schools, colleges & papers—yet one-half of New York’s best & honestest people vote for Tammany & are absolutely conscienceless. This is ‘Xn Civilization’ [NB 46 TS 26]. Note: Sam placed this entry under the printed date for Oct. 15. Under this date see below:
“Why do we yell so? Is it peculiarly American to converse in the tones of a jackass? Our women are as loud as the men. The Italians are massed like bees, forward & aft. We have 2 ‘ladies’ who make more noise than all these 1400. / Passed the Azores at 8” [TS 29].