Mark Twain in Paradise: His Voyages to Bermuda (Mark Twain and His Circle Series)

198 Pages·2006·4.19 MB·English

by  Donald Hoffmann

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ark wain in aradise
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Mark Twain and His Circle Series
tom quirk, editor
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ark wain
(cid:4)
in aradise
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His Voyages to Bermuda
Donald Hoffmann
University of Missouri Press / Columbia and London
Copyright ©  by the Curators of the University of Missouri
University of Missouri Press, Columbia, Missouri 
Printed and bound in the United States of America
All rights reserved
         
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hoffmann, Donald.
Mark Twain in paradise : his voyages to Bermuda / Donald Hoffmann.
p. cm. — (Mark Twain and his circle series)
Summary: “Samuel Clemens first encountered the Bermuda Islands in
and retreated there many more times for the beauty, pace, weather and
company, both local and elite. Hoffmann gathers and examines passages from
travel pieces, letters, and unpublished autobiographical dictation to illuminate
the writer’s love for Bermuda and its seafaring culture”—Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-: ---(alk. paper)
ISBN-: ---(alk. paper)
. Twain, Mark, ‒—Travel—Bermuda Islands. . Authors,
American—th century—Biography. . Americans—Bermuda Islands—
Biography. . Bermuda Islands—Biography. I. Title. II. Series.
PS.H 
.—dc

™This paper meets the requirements of the
American National Standard for Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, Z39.48, 1984.
designer: kristie lee
typesetter: crane composition, inc.
printer and binder: thomson-shore, inc.
typeface: adobe garamond
To Alison and Michael Hoffmann

Contents
Preface ix
i. The “Long, Strange Cruise” of  1
ii. An Idle Excursion in 1877 25
iii. Hints from the Notebook 56
iv. Thirty Years Later, 1907 66
v. Riding in a Donkey Cart, 1908 82
vi. The Grand Return 102
vii. On Doctor’s Orders, 1909 127
viii. Islands of the Blest, 1910 142
Appendix. Table of Days on the Islands 157
Notes 159
Index 179

Preface
This study portrays both a man and a place. What took Mark Twain to
Bermuda? Why did he go there so many times? How long did he stay? How did
he spend his time, and with whom? What did he see? How was he received?
What did he say about Bermuda?
A man and his work cannot be so easily separated, but I have tried to write
of Samuel Clemens the person and Mark Twain the author and stage performer.
It should also be said that the pen name, as Albert Bigelow Paine protested long
ago, was Mark Twain, not “Twain.” In the narrative presented here, I have fa-
vored facts, direct observation, primary sources, and various extracts in order to
steer clear of secondary commentary, contrived interpretations, and the claptrap
that comes from pretending to have delved successfully into someone else’s un-
conscious. Nothing can compare with the immediacy and authenticity of Mark
Twain’s own words.
The task of tracking Mark Twain in Bermuda proved the wisdom of what
Richard P. Feynman so happily called “the pleasure of finding things out.” I am
especially grateful to Patricia and L. Eugene Thomas for all their generous hos-
pitality. I am also indebted to Karla Hayward, archivist, and her assistants Jane
Downing and Richard Lowry at the Bermuda Archives, Hamilton; C. Joanne
Brangman, librarian, and her staff at the Bermuda National Library, Hamilton;
Dr. Wolfgang Sterrer and Penny Hill of the Bermuda Aquarium, Natural His-
tory Museum and Zoo, in Flatts; Richard D. Butterfield, the owner of Bay
