Hot on the trail of opium smugglers, Tintin travels across Egypt and India visiting Port Said, Cairo, Ancient Egyptian tombs, the Pyramids and the Red Sea. He explores a jungle and discovers a herd of elephants. As the adventure progresses the brave reporter narrowly escapes being poisoned and going mad, meets an eccentric archaeologist and comes to the rescue of a Maharaja whose life is in grave danger. Cigars of the Pharaoh is an action-packed adventure which was also one of Hergé's first books. The author was 27 years old when the first edition of the book was published in 1934. The story marked a turning point in the young illustrator's career, after which Tintin's adventures became suffused with fantasy, mystery and suspense.