This chapter is apparently not a product of any letter posted to the Daily Alta California. It covers the celebration of the 4th of July on board the Quaker City, landing in Marseilles and his first dinner in France. They were rather disappointed in that their hostess spoke English. Of special interest is speculation by The Oracle on atmospheric physics and his dislike of poetry.
An interesting chapter of Twains impressions of Moorish customs. This was originally published as Letter Number Four in the Daily Alta California on September 1, 1867. An image of this column is provided on this page. McKeithan (1958) remarks that "Twain tried to improve the diction" of the original letter for the text here in chapter 9 of the book. Here we have a discussion of various means of exacting punishment employed by the Moors.
I've heard (or read) that the human mind can be described as a hologram. If I recall correctly, and I haven't done any research on this, a hologram can be cut up into pieces and each piece will contain the entire image, a bit degraded depending on just how small the piece is. Again, I'm thinking of my mothers dementia (and I still haven't gotten to sleep (it's after 3am now)). Imagine the human mind is a four dimensional hologram and this hologram gets shattered. It doesn't fall apart but all the pieces are now free to move about. What kind of image can be seen in such a mind.
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Twain wanted to find a land totally foreign to his experience. He found that in Tangier. McKeithan (1958) remarks that this letter is used in the book almost entirely as originally written.
Along with Chapter 5, this chapter describes Twain's visit to the Azores. Attached is an image from the first letter of the journey to the Daily Alta California. A note in Traveling with the Innocents Abroad by Daniel Morley McKeithan, mentions this was published August 2, 1867. The masthead of the image copy I have has the date as August 25.
In this chapter we learn all about ship time and how to chase the moon. The Innocents Abroad was written using Twain's journal as well as his correspondences to the Daily Alta California as well as other journals, including the New York Tribune. This chapter, chapter 5 and chapter 6 are covered by two separate letters that overlap to some extent. One to each of these two journals. Included with this page is a copy of the letter sent to the New York Tribune as it contains a description of Mr Blucher's dinner on Fayal.
With this chapter we hear of the many diversions offered passengers: Horse billiards (shuffleboard), journal writing, Magic Lantern shows, dancing on a rolling deck, mock trials and charades. What I think to be the most interesting point in this chapter is the observation of the executive officer:
I (my Second Life avatar) has been reading sketches and chapters from the works of Mark Twain since March of this year (2011). I don't really know why I started doing this other than to create some interesting content for my web site and to try to come up with some justification for playing around in that virtual realm of Second Life. I've long been a fan of Mark Twain but not a scholar. I must say, however, that with just the small portion I've worked on, my appreciation for his works has increased.
Lying still at anchor, just inside the harbor, on a Sunday. Come Monday they sail into high seas and Mark finds great joy in celebrating the sea sickness of his fellow travelers. He is mystified by the presence of five ship captains on the voyage.