Itinerary of the Quaker City Excursion
The following sources furnished the documentary basis for this itinerary: Clemens’s letters to the San Francisco Alta California (beginning with SLC 1867 [MT00555]); N&J1, 329–452; The Innocents Abroad (SLC 1869); journals kept by William R. Denny, Charles C. Duncan (the most reliable source for the ship’s arrival and departure times), Charles J. Langdon, Benjamin B. Nesbit, and Emily A. Severance (the above documents, already cited in the notes, are fully described in References); and newspaper letters written by Moses S. Beach, William R. Denny, Charles C. Duncan and Emily A. Severance, Mary Mason Fairbanks, Abraham R. Jackson, William E. James, Julius Moulton, and Julia Newell. We are grateful to Leon T. Dickinson, who in 1969 provided the Mark Twain Papers with copies of these newspaper letters, most of which he discovered. A full record is given below of all the known letters from each newspaper correspondent; explicit case-by-case citation of all supporting (or conflicting) evidence has been deemed impractical.
The hours of departure and arrival given in the itinerary are approximate. When the time of day was recorded differently in two or more sources, either the most probable time or a reasonable average was adopted. Similarly, when the date was recorded differently, the most likely was chosen. Whenever possible, place names are given in English (“Leghorn” rather than “Livorno,” for example). Spelling authorities were, in descending order, the National Geographic Atlas, Webster’s New Geographical Dictionary, and Murray.
| no. | written | published |
| 1 | 8 June | 10 June |
| 2 | 9 June | 10 June |
| 3 | 15 June | 18 July |
| 4 | 17 June | 19 July |
| 5 | 1 July | 25 July |
| 6 | 1 July | 26 July |
| 7 | 21 June | 29 July |
| 8 | 24 June | 31 July |
| 9 | 25 June | 2 Aug |
| 10 | 4 July | 8 Aug |
| 11 | 9 July | 12 Aug |
| 12 | 9 July | 13 Aug |
| 13 | 12 July | 14 Aug |
| 14 | 20 July | 16 Aug |
| 15 | 20 July | 20 Aug |
| 16 | 15 Aug | 16 Sept |
| 17 | 17 Aug | 18 Sept |
| 18 | 18 Aug | 19 Sept |
| 19 | 26 Aug | 23 Sept |
| 20 | 14 Sept | 5 Nov |
| 21 | 16 Sept | 8 Nov |
| 22 | 30 Sept | 9 Nov |
| 23 | 30 Sept | 11 Nov |
| 24 | 21 Sept | 24 Nov |
| 25 | 25 Sept | 15 Nov |
| 26 | 30 Sept | 16 Nov |
| 27 | 3 Oct | 18 Nov |
| 28 | 5 Oct | 19 Nov |
| 29 | 19 Oct | 20 Nov |
| 30 | 9 Nov | 20 Nov |
| 31 | 11 Nov | 24 Nov |
| 32 | 21 Nov | 22 Nov |
| 33 | 26 Oct | 23 Nov |
| 34 | 3 Nov | 25 Nov |
| 35 | 21 Oct | 26 Nov |
| 36 | 21 Oct | 27 Nov |
| 37 | 22 Oct | 28 Nov |
| no. | written | published |
| none | 29 June | unknown |
| ″ | 30 June | ″ |
| ″ | 2 July | ″ |
| ″ | 10 July | ″ |
| ″ | 13 July | ″ |
| ″ | 19 July | ″ |
| ″ | 21 July | ″ |
| ″ | 22 July | ″ |
| ″ | 24 July | ″ |
| ″ | 28 July | ″ |
| ″ | 30 July | ″ |
| ″ | 10 Aug | ″ |
| ″ | [August] | ″ |
| ″ | 28 Aug | ″ |
| ″ | [September] | ″ |
| ″ | [September] | ″ |
| ″ | [September] | ″ |
| ″ | [September] | ″ |
| ″ | 11 Sept | ″ |
| ″ | 16 Sept | ″ |
| ″ | [October] | ″ |
| no. | written | published |
|---|---|---|
| none | 19 June, 4 July | 15 Aug |
| ″ | 21 and 27 July, 3 Aug | 29 Aug |
| no. | written | published |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 June | 12 June |
| 2 | 9 June | 13 June |
| 3 | 16 June | 22 July |
| 4 | 22 June | 23 July |
| 5 | 29 June | 24 July |
| 6 | 2 July | 25 July |
| 7 | 10 July | 3 Aug |
| 8 | 11 July | 14 Aug |
| 9 | 15 July | 15 Aug |
| 10 | 18 July | 20 Aug |
| 11 | 22 July | 23 Aug |
| 12 | 25 July | 9 Sept |
| 13 | 27 July | 11 Sept |
| 14 | 3 Aug | 26 Sept |
| 15 | 15 Aug | 30 Sept |
| 16 | 23 Aug | 4 Oct |
| 17 | 28 Aug | 8 Oct |
| 18 | 30 Aug | 9 Oct |
| 19 | 6 Sept | 19 Nov |
| 20 | 12 Sept | 20 Nov |
| 21 | 17 Sept | 22 Nov |
| 22 | 21 Sept | 29 Nov |
| 23 | 26 Sept | 5 Dec |
| 24 | 30 Sept | 7 Dec |
| 25 | 5 Oct | 11 Dec |
| 27 [26] | 24 Oct | 25 Nov |
| 27 | 14 Nov | 14 Dec |
| no. | written | published |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 June | unknown |
| 2 | 30 June | ″ |
| 3 | 2 July | ″ |
| 4 | 5 July | ″ |
| 5 | 8 July | ″ |
| 6 | 11 July | ″ |
| 7 | 16 July | ″ |
| 8 | 18 July | ″ |
| 9 | 19 July | ″ |
| 10 | 22 July | unknown |
| 11 | 26 July | ″ |
| 12 | 31 July | ″ |
| 13 | 11 Aug | ″ |
| 14 | 19 Aug | ″ |
| 15 | 2 Sept | ″ |
| 16 | 10 Sept | ″ |
| 17 | 14 Sept | ″ |
| 18 | [October] | ″ |
| no. | written | published |
|---|---|---|
| none | 26 July | 14 Aug |
| ″ | 10 Aug | 19 Sept |
| ″ | 30 Aug | 20 Sept |
| no. | written | published |
|---|---|---|
| none | 23 July | 19 Aug1 |
| ″ | 30 Aug | 14 Oct |
| ″ | 1 Sept | 22 Oct |
| ″ | 2 Oct | 19 Nov |
| ″ | 3 Oct | 24 Nov2 |
| no. | written | published |
|---|---|---|
| none | 22 June | 23 July |
| ″ | 14 July | 1 Aug |
| ″ | 14 July | 16 Aug |
| ″ | 20 July | 24 Aug |
| ″ | 20 July | 7 Sept |
| ″ | 29 July | 12 Sept |
| ″ | [August] | 3 Oct |
| none | 10 Aug | 17 Oct |
| ″ | 3 Sept | 21 Oct |
| ″ | 15 Sept | 6 Nov |
| ″ | October | 23 Nov |
| ″ | October | 30 Nov |
| ″ | [October] | 7 Dec |
| ″ | October | 14 Dec |
| 8 June | QC left the Manhattan wharf, 2:00 p.m., but soon anchored in Gravesend Bay, off Brooklyn. |
| 10 June | QC departed Gravesend Bay, 12:30 p.m. |
| 21 June | QC arrived at Horta, island of Fayal, Azores, in the morning. |
| 23 June | QC departed Horta, 11:00 a.m. |
| 29 June | QC arrived at Gibraltar, 10:00 a.m. |
| 30 June | SLC and companions3 took a steamer to Tangier. |
| 1 July | SLC and companions returned from Tangier to Gibraltar in time for the QC’s 6:00 p.m. departure. |
| 4 July | QC arrived at Marseilles, 7:00 p.m. |
| 5 July | SLC and companions4 departed Marseilles for Paris by an evening train. |
| 6 July | SLC and companions arrived in Paris in the evening. |
| 11 July | SLC and companions departed Paris for Marseilles by a morning train. |
| 12 July | SLC and companions arrived in Marseilles in the morning. |
| 13 July | QC departed Marseilles at noon. |
| 14 July | QC arrived at Genoa, 6:00 a.m. |
| 16 July | SLC and companions5 departed Genoa by train, arriving in Milan that evening. |
| 18 July | SLC and companions traveled by train from Milan to Como, then by steamer to Bellagio on Lake Como. |
| 20 July | SLC and companions traveled by steamer from Bellagio to Leco, departing Lecco by carriage, 1:00 p.m., for Bergamo, where they caught the train, passing through Brescia, Verona, Vicenza, and Padua, and arriving in Venice, 8:00 p.m. |
| 22 July | SLC and companions departed Venice by train, passing through Bologna and Pistoia overnight. |
| 23 July | SLC and companions arrived in Florence; QC departed Genoa, 7:00 p.m. |
| 24 July | QC arrived at Leghorn, 7:00 a.m. |
| ?25 July | SLC and companions departed Florence on the noon train for Pisa, where they spent two hours; they arrived at Leghorn in the evening and boarded the ship. |
| ?26 July | SLC and companions, to avoid being quarantined on the QC at Naples, took a French steamer to Civitavecchia, then a train to Rome, arriving the following evening. |
| 31 July | QC departed Leghorn, 9:00 a.m. |
| 1 Aug | SLC and companions probably departed Rome for Naples by train; QC arrived at Naples, where it was quarantined for a week. |
| 7 Aug | SLC and companions6 departed Naples in the morning for two days on the island of Ischia. |
| 9 Aug | SLC and companions returned from Ischia to Naples in the morning; at midnight SLC and companions7 departed for Mt. Vesuvius. |
| 10 Aug | SLC and companions8 visited Capri by chartered steamer. |
| 11 Aug | QC departed Naples, 8:00 a.m. |
| 14 Aug | QC arrived at Piraeus at noon, but the passengers did not disembark; SLC and companions9 defied the quarantine and visited Athens that night. |
| 15 Aug | QC departed Piraeus at noon. |
| 17 Aug | QC arrived at Constantinople at daybreak. |
| 19 Aug | QC departed Constantinople, 1:00 p.m. |
| 21 Aug | QC arrived at Sevastopol, 5:00 a.m., and departed again at 9:00 p.m. |
| 22 Aug | QC arrived at Odessa, 4:00 p.m. |
| 24 Aug | QC departed Odessa, 11:00 a.m. |
| 25 Aug | QC arrived at Yalta at noon. |
| 26 Aug | QC party, including SLC, visited Tsar Aleksandr II and family. |
| 28 Aug | QC departed Yalta, 8:00 p.m. |
| 30 Aug | QC arrived at Constantinople, at daybreak. |
| 3 Sept | QC party, probably including SLC,10 visited Scutari during the day; QC departed Constantinople, 10:00 p.m. |
| 5 Sept | QC arrived at Smyrna, 10:00 a.m. |
| 6 Sept | Large QC party, including SLC, visited Ephesus during the day; QC departed Smyrna, 11:00 p.m. |
| 10 Sept | QC arrived at Beirut before daylight. |
| 11 Sept | SLC and companions11 departed Beirut on horseback, 3:00 p.m., camping that night ten or twelve miles east of the city. |
| 12 Sept | SLC and companions broke camp, 6:30 a.m., and stayed that night in the Lebanon valley at Temnin el Foka, near Zahlah, about two-thirds of the way between Beirut and Baalbek. |
| 13 Sept | SLC and companions broke camp, 6:30 a.m., visited Baalbek, returned south, and camped that night at Sirghāyā. |
| 14 Sept | SLC and companions arrived in Damascus at sunset. |
| 15 Sept | QC departed Beirut at midnight. |
| 16 Sept | SLC and companions departed Damascus at noon, camping that night at Kefr Hauwar; QC arrived at Mt. Carmel, 10:00 a.m., and departed again at noon, arriving at Jaffa (now part of Tel Aviv), 8:00 p.m. |
| 17 Sept | SLC and companions departed Kefr Hauwar in the morning and camped that night at Baniyas, formerly the ancient city of Caesarea Philippi. |
| 18 Sept | SLC and companions departed Baniyas, 7:15 a.m., and camped that night at Ain Mellahah, near Lake Huleh (now called Bahret el Hule). |
| 19 Sept | SLC and companions departed Ain Mellahah, 7:00 a.m., and camped that night at Tiberias, on the Sea of Galilee. |
| 20 Sept | SLC and companions departed Tiberias in the morning and camped that night at Nazareth. |
| 21 Sept | SLC and companions departed Nazareth, 7:30 a.m., and camped that night at Janīn. |
| 22 Sept | SLC and companions departed Janīn, 2:00 a.m., and camped that night at Lubban. |
| 23 Sept | SLC and companions departed Lubban, 2:30 a.m., and reached Jerusalem at noon. |
| 25 Sept | SLC and companions departed Jerusalem, 8:00 a.m., for a two-day side trip, camping that night near Jericho. |
| 26 Sept | SLC and companions departed Jericho, 2:00 a.m., visited the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, camping that night at Mar Saba. |
| 27 Sept | SLC and companions departed Mar Saba, 3:00 a.m., visited Bethlehem and returned to Jerusalem at noon. |
| 29 Sept | SLC and companions departed Jerusalem, 3:00 p.m., reaching Ramla in the evening. |
| 30 Sept | SLC and companions departed Ramla in the morning and, after three hours, arrived at Jaffa and boarded the ship. |
| 1 Oct | QC departed Jaffa, 7:30 a.m. |
| 2 Oct | QC arrived at Alexandria at sunset. |
| 4 Oct | SLC and companions12 departed Alexandria by train, 4:00 p.m., arriving in Cairo late that evening. |
| 5 Oct | SLC and companions departed Cairo on donkeys, early in the morning, to visit the Sphinx and the pyramids at Giza, returning to Cairo that night. |
| 7 Oct | SLC and companions departed Cairo for Alexandria and boarded the ship; QC departed Alexandria, 5:00 p.m. |
| 13 Oct | QC arrived at Cagliari, island of Sardinia, 9:00 p.m.; departed at midnight without disembarking passengers. |
| 15 Oct | QC arrived at Algiers, 3:30 p.m.; departed, 5:30 p.m., without disembarking passengers. |
| 17 Oct | QC arrived at Málaga, 1:00 p.m.; departed, 4:00 p.m., without disembarking passengers, and arrived at Gibraltar, 11:00 p.m. |
| 18 Oct | SLC and companions13 departed Gibraltar at noon, traveling overnight by horseback and carriage to Algeciras, Vejer, and San Fernando. |
| 19 Oct | SLC and companions boarded the 4:00 p.m. train for Seville, arriving at midnight. |
| 22 Oct | SLC and companions traveled by train to Córdoba. |
| 23 Oct | SLC and companions returned by 9:00 a.m. train to Seville; departed Seville for Cádiz, stopping briefly in Jerez. |
| 24 Oct | SLC and companions arrived in Cádiz; QC departed Gibraltar, 6:00 p.m. |
| 25 Oct | QC arrived at Cádiz, 7:30 a.m.; SLC and companions boarded at 10:30, and QC departed Cádiz, 11:00 a.m. |
| 28 Oct | QC arrived at Funchal, island of Madeira, at noon; departed, 8:00 p.m., without disembarking passengers. |
| 11 Nov | QC arrived at St. George, Bermuda, at daybreak. |
| 15 Nov | QC departed St. George, 8:00 a.m. |
| 19 Nov | QC arrived at New York City, 10:00 a.m. |
Explanatory Notes
