Mark Twain at Sea

Growing up along the banks of the Mississippi River, Sam Clemens was at home on the water, whether at play or at work. He got his license as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi in 1859 at the age of 23 and plied his trade for another two years.

Over the next five decades he crossed the Atlantic twenty-nine times, and crossed the Pacific and Indian oceans as part of one complete round-the-world circuit. Whether aboard the great steamers of the period or yachting with friends, he always enjoyed the leisurely, carefree, and sociable shipboard life.