Marx had no first-hand witness claim, unlike the travel writers Said grouped him with

Evidence

The appearance of Marx in this company is surprising, since he was not ‘literary’ in that sense, nor did he ever travel anywhere south of France. The distinction is important because the theme of the section is testimony and witness brought back in the form of travelogue, fiction, lyric, linguistic knowledge, to say ‘I was there, therefore I know’. Marx clearly made no such claims. — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 433