Around the World with Josiah Allen's Wife by Marietta Holley

The inveterate traveller, Samantha, accompanied by Josiah Allen and a sick grandson, for whose health the trip is undertaken, starts on a journey around the world with a party which includes a Dorothy, who enlivens the trip by marrying in spite of her chaperone, Samantha's characteristic descriptions and comments include much of interest on Hawaii, the Philippines, India, Egypt, the Holy Land, and many European states, while she frequently attempts to set right whatever she thinks may be wrong, even instructing the Empress Si Ann on her duty.