At 2 PM on a dismal day with frequent downpours, William Dean Howells saw the Clemens family off from New York, bound for Europe on the steamship Holsatia commanded by Captain C.L.Brandt. The Times article also mentioned Dan Slote was in the send-off party. It was a two-week voyage. Susy, six, and Clara, going on four, were accompanied by their German nursemaid, Rosa Hay. Also along was George, who would handle baggage and valet duties. Clara Spaulding, who went with the family five years before was also in the group, which occupied two staterooms. Also, a young lady, probably Miss Sophia J. Olivier, was traveling to Hamburg; Livy reluctantly agreed to take charge of her. Although Sam had told friends he might be gone between two and three years, they would return in just over sixteen months. The Clemens family had staterooms #19 and 20.

From page 248 The Life of Mark Twain - The Middle Years 1871-1891

Like the Quaker City in June 1867, the Holsatia sailed south for only a few miles through New York Harbor before it anchored overnight near Sandy Hook to await calmer seas.

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The spring weather during their two-week crossing of the North Atlantic was “devilish,” Sam remarked to Howells, with a daily “afternoon hell” in the ship. One day, Sam reported, “we sighted an iceberg in the morning & a water-spout in the afternoon.” Another day, according to Livy, “we had waves 20 ft high, they looked sometimes as if they would engulf us,” and “when we were on deck they were just grand but when we were below they seemed frightful.” The ship docked briefly at Plymouth on April 22 and the Clemenses disembarked “in the beautiful, the very beautiful city of Hamburg” three days later.