November 26 Tuesday – The Clemens party sailed from Auckland at 3 p.m. on the Union Co.’s Rotomahana. Shillingsburg: “They had arrived at Auckland’s western port near Onehunga, crossed through the city and departed from the northeastern shore on their way to Gisborne and Napier on the eastcoast” [At Home 161]. (MTDBD)
The family celebrated Livy’s birthday aboard the Rotomahana, which arrived in Hawke’s Bay a mile from Gisborne, and, some 20 hours from Auckland, three hours ahead of schedule. Sam described the ship as “roomy, comfortable, well-ordered, and satisfactory” [FE ch XXXIV 315]. Due to high seas the ship could not dock. Sam watched as the Greenwood Theatrical Co. and four prisoners, disembarked in a basket over the rough seas into the small steam launch Snark for transport to shore. As a result of the
Mark Twain was in Whanganui December 3-5 and December 7-9, 1895. On December 8, a Sunday, he took a river boat excursion that included a visit to Moutoa Gardens and saw a monument dedicated to those killed in the Battle of Moutoa Island, which took place in 1864. This visit prompted him to write a rather powerful and poignant statement about patriotism. He was misinformed or at least mis-remembered the visit. The monument morphed into two separate monuments, in his mind.