A visual and written record of a trip to Algeria at the opening of the 20th century undertaken by H.E. Irving Taylor and his traveling companion, Mr Shepherd, comprising Taylor's photographs alongside his engaging narrative of both his journey and descriptions of the photographs themselves. Taylor and Shepherd's trip, undertaken in January 1902, took them to Algiers, Constantine, El Kantara, Biskra, Sidi Okba, Kherrata, and the Djurdjura mountain range, the pair traveling by train, trap, bicycle, camel, and on foot.

Taylor's crisp photographs capture the natural landscape (from mountains to desert), architecture, markets, archaeological sites, the local population, his traveling companion and their Algerian guides. Evidently a keen photographer, Taylor several times notes that his images fail to do justice to the magnificence of the Algerian landscape and light, which left him 'spell-bound'.

Many of the annotations refer to music and musical instruments. There are two instances of copied out pieces of local music.