Sam and companions arrived in Damascus at sunset on September 14, 1867. They departed at noon on September 16, traveling to Kefr Hauwar. Mark Twain Project: Quaker City Itinerary

The most fanatical Mohammedan purgatory out of Arabia

September 13, 1867, Sam and companions broke camp at Temnin el Foka and rode to Baalbek, then turned south and rode to Sirghaya.   Mark Twain Project: Quaker City Itinerary

Twain writes in chapter 42 as if this is the first camp site upon leaving Beirut but the Quaker City Itinerary places this on September 12, breaking camp on September 13 at 6:30am. The camping site may actually be further east.

From an entry in MTDBD: "Passed up the Valley & camped on l. side under the dews of Hermon. –first passing through a dirty Arab village & visiting the tomb of Noah, of Deluge notoriety [MTNJ 1: 417]."

From Bædeker: Route 30, 1876

The City of Florence became Twain's favorite Italian city, despite his first experiences in 1867. Annexed by Sardinia in 1860, it was the Kingdom of Italy's first capital from 1865 to 1870, when Rome joined the kingdom.