Originally published in 1827, when steam boats had started to provide the first public transport suitable for tourists in many parts of the country. Arranged to suit the available roads of the time, the major part of the text is divided into four 'tours', each of which is accompanied by a small route map. The routes diverge from time to time for sights 'worthy of a detour' as Michelin would say much later. Sixty pages are devoted to tours by steam boat, 'undoubtedly of Scottish invention, though the honour has been assumed by America' (page 344). In the fifteen years since Henry Bell's "Comet" had first plied its trade, the Clyde fleet had grown to thirty vessels.