The volume begins with an extended examination of the Mississippi, pairing natural and historical description with personal memoir as the narrator recalls boyhood, apprenticeship, and service as a steamboat pilot, detailing navigational skill, routine, races, and riverine hazards. A second portion shifts to episodic travel pieces from the Far West, presenting lively sketches of journeys, landscapes, encounters, and frontier life. Technical explanation and historical context alternate with humorous anecdote and ironic observation, so the reader moves between informative reportage and satirical, character-driven vignettes that illuminate both place and experience.