Chapter 3 Summary

Twain spends his first day at anchor familiarizing himself with his surroundings. The first observation he makes is the diversity in age of the passengers. There are old and young and those whose age is unidentifiable. When the ship finally sets sail, the one thing all these passengers have in common is seasickness. With everyone heaving over the edge of the ship, Twain has too much time on his hands and sets out to entertain himself. He is introduced to all five of the ship's captains by doing things and touching things he shouldn't.

Chapter 3 Analysis

Mark Twain shows off his excellent observation skills by noting that there are just as many old people as young and middle aged. This is one of the first hints that the passengers were not a special "select" group of individuals, but rather ordinary people like himself...