Chapters I - IV Summary and Analysis

The lecturing trips around the world began in Paris with two members of Clemens family deciding to go with him. They sailed to New York in midsummer. They crossed the continent to Victoria and boarded the ship to sail on the Pacific. They had to bring their own deck chairs.

The Captain was a pleasant man who didn't smoke. He didn't allow smoking in the smoking room after eleven because his cabin adjoined the smoking room. He had piloted a ship into the rocks, and even though he was acquitted of charges, there was still a cloud of suspicion. The purser was a young Scotchman who drank too much. To Twain, the root of all vices is the desire. He used to take pledges to break a bad habit, but couldn't break them because he...