January 29 Wednesday – Sam and Carlyle G. Smythe made a “flying trip” to Poona, returning to Bombay the following morning. Sam’s notebook:
Jan. 29. Left for Poona — (southeast).
At the mountain station of Lonauli — 12.30 am, was given that remarkable circus bill.
Been passing through ghats since 10 or 11 (now 12.30) [NB 36 TS 28].
January 28 Tuesday – In Bombay, the wedding festivities of the prior night lasted till the wee hours. Sam wrote of it in FE:
January 27 Monday – The Hindoo Patriot of Feb. 4, 1896 reported on Sam’s whereabouts,
Mark Twain, accompanied by Miss Clemens, visited Monday, in company with Mr. A.S. Panday [sic], the rooms of the Bombay Natural History Society, where Mr Phipson accorded the distinguished visitor a cordial reception. Mr. Clemens expressed himself much pleased with the museum in the rooms of the society [Ahluwalia 10].
January 26 Sunday – In Bombay, Sam’s notebook:
Sunday, we lunched at Government House with their excellencies, the Governor and Lady Sandhurst; & at 4 p.m. visited the Towers of Silence with three Parsi gentlemen.
Lovely drive around the sea at sunset, Malabar Point and Scandal Point [NB 36 TS 25-6].
January 25 Saturday – In Bombay, Sam’s notebook:
It was Mr. Ghandi (delegate to Chicago World’s Fair Congress of Religions) who explained everything to us yesterday at the Jain temple.
From there went to the house of a wealthy Parsee to assist at a gathering in honor of knighthood being bestowed upon H H The Prince of Politana….
Afterward Parsee palace. Owner had heard me in London 22 years ago [NB 36 TS 24-5].
January 24 Friday – In Bombay, Sam took the stage for his first “At Home” lecture in India at the Novelty Theater, 5:30 p.m. to an enthusiastic and “crowded house,” with “a party of ladies and gentlemen from Government House,” mostly an audience of Europeans, but “with a large number of Parsees present — to say nothing of a good sprinkling of Mahomedans and Hindus” [Ahluwalia 9: Bombay Gazette, Jan. 25].
January 23 Thursday – Having declined an invitation with Lord William Sandhurst to lunch at Malabar Point, Sam was recovering in time for his lecture the following day, Jan. 24.
January 22 Wednesday – In Bombay, Sam’s notebook:
Wed., Jan 22, ’96. Read Edwin Lord Weeks’s article on Bombay in Nov. Harper [NB 36 TS 22].
January 21 Tuesday – Sam was still laid up at Watson’s Hotel in Bombay. He would not be able to venture out until his lecture on Friday, Jan. 24. In his notebook he jotted, “Private Life of an Eastern King. — Chelsea Library. Get it,” referring to William Knighton’s book by that title (1855). Sam would check it out from the London Library on Oct. 22.
January 20 Monday – In Bombay, Sam’s notebook [NB 36 TS 20]:
Been shut up all the time with this infernal cough. It does not improve. I wish I was in hell.
Parsons writes,