December 29 Sunday – On a moonlit night the Clemens party was en route to Adelaide on P&O Co.’s Oceana. Sam’s notebook: “Dec. 29. Arr. At Adelaide early in the morning” [NB 36 TS 13].
December 28 Saturday – The Clemens party left Melbourne aboard the P&O Co.’s 3,175 ton Oceana, captained by Commander E. Stewart, bound for India. A “very heavy sea all night” probably caused some concern. Sam left behind him many good memories and friends; financially he had done well, with most halls being filled to the brim and enthusiastic [Shillingsburg, “Down Under” 33, At Home 191-2; NB 36 TS 13].
December 27 Friday – In Malvern, a suburb of Melbourne, Sam spent all day playing billiards with the Wagners [NB 36 TS 13]. In the evening Sam gave his “At Home” (No. 2) lecture at Athenaeum Hall in Melbourne. Age reviewed the lecture on Dec. 28 [Shillingsburg, “Down Under” 33].
December 26 Thursday – On Boxing Day in Melbourne, the Clemenses enjoyed Johnny cakes and buckwheat cakes at the John Wagner’s. Sam played billiards “a good part of the day” [NB 36 TS 13] with young Jack Wagner (John H. Jr.) and Mrs. Sue McCulloch, his sister. Livy and Clara enjoyed tea with Mrs. Sue McCulloch, perhaps as guests elsewhere. In the evening Sam gave his “At Home” (No. 2) in the Athenaeum Hall in Melbourne.
December 25 Wednesday – Christmas – The Oceana arrived in Melbourne in the morning. The Clemens party was driven to the Malvern home of John H. Wagner, whom they’d spent many hours with in October. They had an afternoon tea with the Wagners and visited at Lloyds’ large home at Stoningham. Christmas dinner was enjoyed at Highgate-on-the-Hill with the R.S. Smythe family.
December 24 Tuesday – The Clemens party was en route to Melbourne on the P&O Co.’s Oceana. Shillingsburg writes Sam “Evidently working on the Australian poem in his notebook, adding verses first recorded in Melbourne in Dec. 26 performance” [“Down Under” 32].
While en route Sam wrote three letters of introduction for Justice Sir William C. Windeyer to Laurence Hutton, Henry C. Robinson, and Chauncey Depew (the first two survive). He then enclosed these letters to Windeyer.
December 23 Monday – In Sydney Sam sent £200 to H.H. Rogers through Dibb’s Bank. At noon Sam wrote a short note to Cyprian A. Bridge:
We sail in an hour: I have been so rushed that I got no chance to acknowledge the honor of your visit till a quarter of an hour ago…I am sorry I missed you…[MTP].
At 1 p.m. the Clemens party (including Carlyle G. Smythe) sailed on the P&O liner Oceana for Ceylon.
December 22 Sunday – In Sydney the Clemens family visited the Hawkesbury River National Park with H.S. Chipman, who later gave Sam an illustrated book on Australia. A sightseeing boat usually left the Market St. Wharf for Hawkesbury. Sam was contacted by a member of the Bulletin staff, possibly J.F. Archibald. In Livy’s Dec. 20 to Sue Crane, she added a PS that William Windeyer called.
December 21 Saturday – In Sydney in the evening Sam repeated his “At Home” lecture from the previous night, except he used his remarks on the war scare as an introduction, and also included the Australian poem. Shillingsburg, in quoting local newspapers, writes: On Saturday night, “the hall was packed, and the great humorist met with a splendid reception,” and at times “the whole audience was convulsed.”
December 20 Friday – Sam and Smythe left Scone, Australia by train at 11:25 a.m. While on the train Sam kept notes of town names, possibly for use in a poem he included in FE.