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A collection of lively travel letters and sketches composed over two years and many miles, recounting passages through London, Paris, Russia, Constantinople, Egypt, Greece, and Italy. The author blends humorous personal anecdotes about preparations and companionship with descriptive impressions of cities, monuments, shipboard life, and the Nile, while noting local customs and everyday scenes. The writing is episodic rather than strictly chronological, alternating practical travel detail with cultural observation, and maintains a conversational, observant tone that balances comic self-reflection and vivid on-the-spot reportage.
The frank conceit of the title to this book will, I hope, not prejudice my friends against it, and will serve not only to excuse my being my own Boswell, but will fasten the blame of all inaccuracies, if such there be, upon the offender—myself. This is not a continuous narrative of a continuous journey, but covers two years of travel over some thirty thousand miles, and presents peoples and things, not as you saw them, perhaps, or as they really are, but only As Seen By Me.