We wandered contentedly around here and there in India; to Lahore, among other places, where the Lieutenant-Governor lent me an elephant. This hospitality stands out in my experiences in a stately isolation. It was a fine elephant, affable, gentlemanly, educated, and I was not afraid of it. I even rode it with confidence through the crowded lanes of the native city, where it scared all the horses out of their senses, and where children were always just escaping its feet.

From Indian Equator:

We had a refreshing rest, there in Delhi, in a great old mansion which possessed historical interest. It was built by a rich Englishman who had become orientalized—so much so that he had a zenana. But he was a broadminded man, and remained so. To please his harem he built a mosque; to please himself he built an English church. That kind of a man will arrive, somewhere. In the Mutiny days the mansion was the British general's headquarters. It stands in a great garden—oriental fashion—and about it are many noble trees.

Departed Jaipur 6 pm March 15 and arrived in Delhi March 16 Monday "at half-past midnight. They stayed with Mr. and Mrs. Burne of the Bank of Bengal, “in the great old mansion built by a rich orientalized Englishman” [Ahluwalia 19; NB 36 TS 57].

February 29 Saturday – At 10 p.m. the Clemens party left Agra and traveled 140 miles to Jaipur. (Fears)

February 29 Saturday – At 10 p.m. the Clemens party left Agra and traveled 140 miles to Jaipur. (Day by Day)

Sam mentions Ajmere as a point along this trip in a letter to Clara, July 18, 1909.  "Jean has had great pleasure in Mr. Acklom’s visit. He is 45 years old, I should say, & is the good kind of Englishman. You may remember his excellent father and mother, at Agra—at Colonel Loch’s house, the Residency; & they were with us as far as Ajmere."

Twain arrived in Agra February 27th and departed on the 29th of 1896. The Taj Mahal and Twain's reaction to it are the main topics of what is written about his visit. Ian Strathcarron, however, goes beyond this by including two additional topics: Agra of today and Twain's relationship with travel writers. There is a particular parallel to The Innocents Abroad in that the Taj Mahal represents an awakening from one's expectations from readings to actually experience. The Innocents Abroad is a long series of such awakenings.

February 27 Thursday – The Clemens family left Kanpur and traveled 45 miles to Agra, staying at the Government House occupied by Colonel P.L. Loch.
(Fears: Day By Day)

Robert Cooper, Around the World with Mark Twain, reports the distance as 150 miles, taking seven and one half hours to travel. (page 246). He writes that Colonel Loch oversaw the local rulers of three states. "Nine months ago there was a Rajah deposed, and it has brought much extra work upon him."

Twain visited Kanpur because of his "growing fascination with the Sepoy Uprising and especially what he saw as the heroic stand of his British hosts. Certainly Smythe would not have been too pleased with the receipts, for Twain’s performance was more an after-dinner speech in the officers’ mess than the usual Talk in a town hall or theatre.