September 29 Tuesday – Sam’s notebook shows he arrived in Arles on this day [NB 31 TS 7]. On his last day on the Rhone river, Sam wrote at 11: 20 a.m. to his daughter Clara Clemens, answering her letter. He may have also written his other daughters, though such letters are not extant.
DEAR OLD BEN —
The vast stone masses & huge towers of the ancient papal palace of Avignon are projected above an intervening wooded island a mile up the river behind me — for we are already on our way to Arles. It is a perfectly still morning, with a brilliant sun, & very hot — outside; but I am under cover of the linen hood, & it is cool & shady in here.
Please tell mamma I got her very last letter this morning, & I perceive by it that I do not need to arrive at Ouchy before Saturday midnight. I am glad, because I couldn’t do the railroading I am proposing to do during the next two or three days & get there earlier. I could put in the time till Sunday midnight, but shall not venture it without telegraphic instructions from her to Nimes day after tomorrow, Oct. 1, care Hotel Manivet.
The only adventures we have is in drifting into rough seas now & then. They are not dangerous, but they go thro’ all the motions of it. Yesterday when we shot the Bridge of the Holy Spirit it was probably in charge of some inexperienced deputy spirit for the day, for we were allowed to go through the wrong arch, which brought us into a tourbillon below which tried to make this old scow stand on its head. Of course I lost my temper & blew it off in a way to be heard above the roar of the tossing waters. I lost it because the admiral had taken that arch in deference to my opinion that it was the best one, while his own judgment told him to take the one nearest the other side of the river. I could have poisoned him I was so mad to think I had hired such a turnip. A boatman in command should obey nobody’s orders but his own, & yield to nobody’s suggestions.
It was very sweet of you to write me, dear, & I thank you ever so much. With greatest love & kisses, / Papa [MTLP 2: 556-7].