May 2 Saturday – The Clemens party was at sea aboard the Arundel Castle bound for South Africa. Sam wrote in FE:
May 2, A.M. A fair, great ship in sight, almost the first we have seen in these weeks of lonely voyaging. We are now in the Mozambique Channel, between Madagascar and South Africa, sailing straight west for Delagoa Bay [ch LXIV 631].
May 1 Friday – The Clemens party was at sea aboard the Arundel Castle bound for South Africa. In his May 2 entry in FE, Sam related this night’s story:
May – Joe Twichell’s piece appeared as the lead article in the May issue of Harper’s Monthly Magazine as “Mark Twain.” Brander Matthews’ article, “The Penalty of Humor,” p. 897-900, also ran in the same magazine. Matthews thought Twain’s writing was uneven, but the best of it was very good; critics did an injustice if they dismissed him as merely a humorist. (Reprinted in The Twainian, XXX (Mar.-Apr. 1971 1-4)) [Tenney 25].
April 30 Thursday – The Clemens party was at sea aboard the Arundel Castle bound for South Africa.
April 29 Wednesday – The Clemens party was at sea aboard the Arundel Castle bound for South Africa. In FE Sam waxed eloquent about the 4,700 ton ship, captained by R.W. Winder [Philippon 14]:
April 28 Tuesday – The Clemens family left Curepipe, took the two-hour trip to Port Louis, and boarded the Arundel Castle for the eight-day voyage to Mozambique and Natal. Parsons includes Sam’s remark about bed linens being washed in a stream as his “chief memory” of Mauritius:
This is the first time I ever saw women trying to break rocks with sheets [“Traveler in S.A.” 3].
April 25 Saturday – Richard Watson Gilder published Sam’s Mar. 12 letter about Jaipur architecture as “A Gift from India” in the Apr. 25, 1896 issue of Critic [Gribben 355].
Critic also reprinted “Mark Twain on the Platform” from The Sketch, dealing with Sam’s world tour, including a description of his choice of material and of his platform appearance and manner [Tenney 25].
April 24 Friday – In Curepipe, Mauritius Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers.
We have been here about ten days, and shall be here 3 or 4 more before our ship will be ready to receive us on board. This holiday comes very handy for me; I am very glad to have a resting spell; I was getting fagged with platform work….
April 23 Thursday – In Curepipe, Sam gave this date for a potpourri of information about Mauritius.
April 23. “The first year they gather shells; the second year they gather shells and drink; the third year they do not gather shells.” (Said of immigrants to Mauritius.)
Population 375,000. 120 sugar factories.
April 22 Wednesday – In Curepipe, Sam gave this date for a discussion of why the English allowed the French to colonize Madagascar.