Heroism, conquest, and pilgrimage were common themes in early travel literature, but in the period following the Enlightenment, when values shifted toward reason and discovery of the natural world, the emphasis of travel narratives changed. Authors, conscious of the perception of their writing, aimed for more "authentic accounts," and as a result, the narratives during this period often contain more scenes depicting quotidian life in a distant place than they do action/adventure scenes. See http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/libraries/rare/modernity/travel.html for examples of early travel narratives.
The context of Abu Taleb's visit to England is critical:
He is a subject Muslim visiting "Franks" who rule his country; he expresses his admiration of a culture that is utterly different from anything in the Islamic world, but he is critical as well. Finally, Abu Taleb Khan is no mere observer, but is himself an exhibition for those among whom he travels. It is their curiosity about him that makes his travel possible, not the reverse. ("Impressions of Europe from Mirza Abu Taleb Khan's The Travels of Taleb in Foreign Lands, 1810.")
At the same time, it's important to see that Abu Taleb's narrative provides a mirror of European narratives typical of this period:
Abu Taleb is generally more admiring of his hosts than are western travelers of theirs, and though it should not be forgotten that he hoped to return to India and work for the British company that ruled his country, he appears to have been a courteous and cultivated spectator. At the same time, Abu Taleb's criticisms are often trenchant. In his description of the judicial system in England and the effects of its imposition on India, we hear a cry from the heart, mourning the results of alien rule in India. His criticisms of the West, and especially its merchants, echo western criticisms of the Orient: the natives cheat you blind, are self-indulgent, and so on. ("Impressions of Europe from Mirza Abu Taleb Khan's The Travels of Taleb in Foreign Lands, 1810.")
As you read the excerpts from Travels of Mirza Abu Taleb Khan watch for these things.
Further reading:
"Impressions of Europe from Mirza Abu Taleb Khan's The Travels of Taleb in Foreign Lands, 1810." http://sitemaker.umich.edu/emes/sourcebook/da.data/82629/FileSource/1810_abu_taleb.pdf