We were at sea now, for a very long voyage—we were to pass through the entire length of the Levant; through the entire length of the Mediterranean proper, also, and then cross the full width of the Atlantic—a voyage of several weeks. We naturally settled down into a very slow, stay-at-home manner of life, and resolved to be quiet, exemplary people, and roam no more for twenty or thirty days. No more, at least, than from stem to stern of the ship. It was a very comfortable prospect, though, for we were tired and needed a long rest.
October 10 Thursday – Sam’s “Holy Land Excursion. Letter from Mark Twain Number Thirteen” dated Aug. “Naples” ran in the Alta California [McKeithan 95-100].
October 11 Friday – From Sam’s notebook: “At sea, somewhere in the neighborhood of Malta. Very stormy” [MTNJ 1: 446].
October 13 Sunday – QC arrived at Cagliari, island of Sardinia at 9 PM, and left at midnight without disembarking passengers. Sam began a letter to his mother and family, writing on Oct. 13, 15, and 17 brief notes about his whereabouts, travel plans, the restrictions of quarantine and arrival back in New York [MTL 2: 97-8].
October 15 Tuesday – QC arrived at Algiers at 3:30 PM; left at 5:30 PM without disembarking passengers.
October 17 Thursday – QC arrived at Malaga at 1 PM and left at 4 PM without disembarking passengers. It arrived at Gibraltar at 11PM.
“We were all lazy and satisfied, now, as the meager entries in my note-book (that sure index, to me, of my condition,) prove. What a stupid thing a note-book gets to be at sea, any way” [IA Ch. 59].
October 18 Friday – Sam, Dr. Jackson, Julius Moulton, Miss Julia Newell, and a guide left Gibraltar at noon, traveling overnight by horseback and carriage to Algeciras, Vejer, and San Fernando.
Sam’s “Holy Land Excursion. Letter from Mark Twain Number Fifteen” dated Aug. 15 ran in the Alta California [McKeithan 100-110].
October 19 Saturday – Sam and group took a 4 PM train to Seville, arriving at midnight.
The Celebrated Frog of Calaveras County was reviewed by Fun, a English rival to Punch, edited by Tom Hood:
October 20 Sunday – Sam’s “Holy Land Excursion. Letter from Mark Twain Number Sixteen” dated Aug. 20 ran in the Alta California [McKeithan 110-115].
October 22 Tuesday – Sam and group took a train to Cordoba.
October 23 Wednesday – Sam and group returned by 9 AM train to Seville, then left for Cadiz, stopping briefly in Jerez.
The ship had to stay a week or more at Gibraltar to take in coal for the home voyage.
October 24 Thursday – Sam and group arrived in Cadiz. Meanwhile, the QC departed Gibraltar at 6 PM. Sam wrote from Cadiz to his mother and family about dodging quarantine and his hard journey to Seville. “…will arrive in New York ten days after this letter gets there” [MTL 2: 99].
October 25 Friday – QC arrived at Cadiz at 7:30 AM. Sam and group boarded at 10:30 AM. The QC departed Cadiz at 11 AM. Sam’s article, dated Aug. 31 “A Yankee in the Orient” ran in the New York Tribune [McKeithan 128-32].
October 27 Sunday – Sam’s “Holy Land Excursion. Letter from Mark Twain Number Eighteen” dated only August, “Constantinople” ran in the Alta California [McKeithan 120-23].
October 28 Monday – QC arrived at Funchal, island of Madiera, at noon, then left at 8 PM without disembarking passengers.
October 29 Tuesday – Sam’s “Holy Land Excursion. Letter from Mark Twain Number Nineteen” dated only August, “Constantinople” ran in the Alta California [McKeithan 123-28].
November 1 Friday – Sam’s “Holy Land Excursion. Letter from Mark Twain Number Twenty” dated Aug. 22 “Sebastopol” ran in the Alta California [McKeithan 132-7].
November 2 Saturday – Sam’s article, “The American Colony in Palistine” dated Oct. 2, ran in the New York Tribune [McKeithan 306-9].
November 3 Sunday – Sam’s “Holy Land Excursion. Letter from Mark Twain Number Twenty-one” dated Aug. 22 at “Odessa” ran in the Alta California [McKeithan 137-42].
November 6 Wednesday – Sam’s “Holy Land Excursion. Letter from Mark Twain Number Twenty-two” dated Aug. 27 at “Yalta” ran in the Alta California [McKeithan 150-57].
November 9 Saturday – Sam’s article, “Holy Land, The First Day in Palestine” dated Sept. at “Baldwinsville, Galilee” ran in the New York Tribune [McKeithan 209-13].
November 10 Sunday – Sam’s “Holy Land Excursion. Letter from Mark Twain Number Twenty-three” dated Aug. 27 at “Yalta, Russia” ran in the Alta California [McKeithan 157-63].
November 11 Monday – QC arrived at St. George, Bermuda at dawn.
“…the beautiful Bermudas rose out of the sea, we entered the tortuous channel, steamed hither and thither among the bright summer islands, and rested at last under the flag of England and were welcome” [IA Ch.60].
November 12 Tuesday – The group rode in carriages to the Gibbs Hill lighthouse, an unusual structure built in 1844-6, mostly from cast-iron parts made in England. The group then returned to the Hamilton Hotel for a meal. Afterward they traveled back to St. George’s for an evening at the W.C.J. and Mary Hyland’s. Hyland was a “fellow Christian and eminent citizen of St.
November 13 Wednesday – A gale from the NW came up, continuing throughout the day. Just after midnight: The ship was anchored about a mile from shore. A rising wind and current made rowing back difficult. Mary Fairbanks wrote:
“Our oarsmen tugged manfully, and ‘Mark Twain’ held the rudder with a strong hand, while the spray dashed over his Parisian broadcloth and almost extinguished his inevitable cigar” [D. Hoffman 22].