May 17 Sunday – Sam and Smythe arrived in Johannesburg at Park Station at 8:50 p.m. and were greeted by a “large number of admirers and curious spectators.” They took rooms at the Grand National Hotel at Rissik and Pritchard Streets. Journalists from the Johannesburg Times and the Standard Diggers’ News interviewed Mark Twain, these published on May 18 [Philippon 16]. Note: Scharnhorst reports these two interviews, plus another of May 18 by the Johannesburg Star [Interviews 300-9].

Rodney writes,

A few days later the two travelers reached Johannesburg and the richest gold region in the world, known as “the Rand.” They stayed over for twelve days so that Mark Twain could satisfy the demand for his “At Homes” with seven performances in Johannesburg and three in nearby Pretoria. Fatigued though he was by such a rigorous schedule, he was elated by his reception [190].