Excerpt from Round the World: Letters From Japan, China, India, and Egypt I was not ordered abroad by the doctors, but started in perfect health, which I retained through all the vicissitudes of climate, and was so fortunate as not to meet with any serious mishap to mar the pleasure of the journey. Only once, during that eventful night of the typhoon on the Chinese coast, did I question my prudence in being there, without the excuse of ill-health or busi ness. My motive was not merely the pursuit of pleasure, but the desire to gratify a long-cherished passion to see once in my lifetime the strange and curious nations of the Orient, books of travel among whom have always had for me a strange fascination. In these sketches I have confined my descriptions, in a great measure, to what passed under my own observation; and have endeavored to paint the curious and novel scenes in Japan, China, and India, as they appeared to a fresh traveler, without any attempt at fine writing, or high- own description. The unexpected courtesy and kindness everywhere met from both foreigners and natives, and the many chance acquaintances which have ripened into friendships that will endure for a lifetime, are among the pleasantest souvenirs of my journey. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."