August 25 Sunday – In his Aug. 30 to H.H. Rogers, Sam wrote it had “been an uneventful voyage”:
The weather has been divine. For the past three days the sea with the sun on it has counterfeited the intense & luminous blue of the Mediterranean. We have done nothing but play hearts & read & smoke [MTP].
August 24 Saturday – Sam, Livy and daughter Clara were en route to Honolulu on the Warrimoo, captain R.E. Arundel. Sam wrote of the ship and captain in the first chapter of FE:
August 23 Friday – In Victoria, J. B. Pond’s diary on the day of departure:
August 22 Thursday – The Clemens party was still in Victoria, B.C. From J.B. Pond’s diary:
August 21 Wednesday – The Clemens party arrived in Victoria, B.C. shortly after midnight and took rooms at the Driard Hotel. From J.B. Pond’s diary:
Wednesday, August 21st, Victoria, B.C. — The Driad [sic: Driard].
“Mark” has been in bed all day; he doesn’t seem to get strength. He smokes constantly, and I fear too much also; still, he may stand it. Physicians say it will eventually kill him.
August 20 Tuesday – In Vancouver, B.C. before boarding the ship to Victoria, Sam and Livy each wrote a paragraph to Franklin G. Whitmore.
It may be that a full length portrait of Clara will arrive at our Hartford house addressed to you. It will come from the artist, John W. Alexander.
Livy thanked Whitmore for a statement sent of Hartford finances. She disclosed that Sam had been in bed “for a day or two with a cold” but was better [MTP].
August 19 Monday – From J.B. Pond’s diary:
August 18 Sunday – A rest day in Vancouver, B.C. for the Clemens party.
August 17 Saturday – In Vancouver, Canada, J.B. Pond wrote in his diary:
Saturday, August 17th, Vancouver.
We are all waiting for the news as to when the Warrimoo will be off the dry dock and ready to sail. “Mark” is getting better. I have booked Victoria for Tuesday, the 20th.
“Mark” has lain in bed all day, as usual, spending much time writing. Reporters have been anxious to meet and interview him, and I urged it, He finally said: “If they’ll excuse my bed, show them up.”
August 16 Friday – In Vancouver, Canada, Sam wrote a paragraph to Rudyard Kipling: