We were quartered on a Nile steamer, moored to the dock, as the hotels were crowded. We had hardly landed on the deck when the flies lit on us in swarms. In all parts of the world I had encountered flies that held the record for abandoned cruelty to man, but they were white-winged angels of peace compared to these tarantulas They stuck and hung and dug into your flesh with apparent glee. You have whips, whisks, fans and bunches of twigs to chase and defeat them, but it's all no use. You kill a dozen and a hundred take their place. -from "Egypt" Much more than a missive from exotic ports of call, this delightful 1909 travelogue is like taking a long and agreeable sea voyage with a smart, snarky friend. Bayne, who distained "post-card mania" but revels in roundabout stories and clever character sketches, treats us to his wonderful, witty observations of such far-off places as Cadiz, Alhambra, Constantinople, the Dead Sea, Messina, Pompeii, Monte Carlo, and much more. Set sail in a round-the-world cruise without ever leaving home... and journey back in time to a more elegant era when every vacation was an adventure. OF INTEREST TO: armchair travelers, readers of early-20th-century literature American author SAMUEL GAMBLE BAYNE (1844-1924) also wrote On an Irish Jaunting-Car: Through Donegal and Connemara (1902) and Quicksteps Through Scandinavia, With a Retreat from Moscow (1908).