Travels across Nicaragua with Mark Twain 1866

At the end of 1866, Mark Twain traveled to Nicaragua and the San Juan River. A traveler for nearly a decade of his adult life, Twain needed to go from San Francisco to New York City. Instead of crossing the United States by land, he chose to make his way to New York City via Nicaragua and the San Juan River. In a series of letters to the Alta California newspaper, Twain describes his travels through Nicaragua and down the San Juan River. Not published in book form until 1940 as Travels with Mr. Brown Mark Twain’s commentary on Central America has remained relatively unknown to a good many historians and even readers of Twain. Here is the original English text and the Spanish translation of his account, which includes my introduction and textual notes to his travels over what was commonly called in the nineteenth century the Nicaraguan Route.

Travels with Mr. Brown

M.L. Juan Carlos Vargas.

Magister en Literatura inglesa y norteamericana. Profesor de la Escuela de Lenguas Modernas, Universidad de Costa Rica. San Pedro de Montes de Oca, San José, Costa Rica.

"...nothing so liberalizes a man and expands the kindly instincts that nature put in him as travel and contact with many kinds of people."

Mark Twain

"From New York to San Juan del Norte, at the mouth of the San Juan River, otherwise called Greytown, is 2000 miles. From New Orleans the distance is about 1400 miles. There is a good pier at Greytown, at which passengers can land without trouble... http://railsandtrails.com/gazetteer/1853/routeCA-OR.htm


FYI, if you wondering what the fare would be worth. Steerage around Cape Horn (the longest way) - What cost $150 in 1853 would cost $4487.88 in 2017. First Class - What cost $350 in 1853 would cost $10471.71 in 2017. https://westegg.com/inflation/