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.

April 20 Monday – In Curepipe, Mauritius, Sam wrote in FE:

April 20. — This is the only place in the world where no breed of matches can stand the damp. Only one match in 16 will light.

The roads are hard and smooth; some of the compounds are spacious, some of the bungalows commodious, and the roadways are walled by tall bamboo hedges, trim and green and beautiful; and there are azalea hedges, too, both the white and the red; I never saw that before.