s, bent on catching a glimpse of the Serdar Ekrem. I
noticed that he never missed an opportunity of conversing with the
country people, who would tremblingly obey his summons to come and
receive 'Bakshish,' until reassured by his kind tone and gentle manner.

In thus speaking of Omer Pacha's moral qualities let me not be mistaken:
I do not wish to infer that he possesses a very refined mind, still less
that he is gifted with those elements which go to form the
philanthropist; but that which he does possess is much good nature, a
long-headed shrewdness, which shows him the policy of toleration, and a
general disposition to support the weak against the strong. Thus, if he
has been accused of squeezing the faithful subjects of His Imperial
Majesty the Sultan, I venture to say that these attentions on his part
have been devoted entirely to those whom he knows to have amassed money
by grinding extortion, and thus he pays them off in their own coin.

On the night of the 15th we halted in a small encampment about five
hours beyond Stolatz, where tents were already pitched for our
reception. Here one of those sights met our view so characteristic of
the country, and so unlike anything one is accustomed to see in regular
armies. A certain amount of hay and barley had been collected, and,
having been warned to do so by one of the staff, I ordered my servant to
push on ahead, that he might make sure of a portion of the spoil. On my
arrival I went down to watch operations, and vastly amusing it was to
see the scuffle which was going on--black servants, privates of
dragoons, and staff officers all helping themselves in a manner that
would have wrung the heart of the most generous forage contractor or
commissariat officer. Here I discovered the sort of stuff of which my
servant, a Dalmatian, was made. Some one, it appears, had told him, with
what truth I know not, that a party of Greek Christians had lately made
an incursion into this very camp, killing several Turks. This, and the
reports of a few muskets, so completely unmanned him, that he stoutly
declared his intention of remaining awake during the night; and it was
only by allowing him to lie in the tent by my side that I could induce
him to try and sleep. The abject cowardice of this youth on subsequent
occasions gave me but a poor impression of the modern Dalmatian--an idea
which was confirmed by the conduct of his successor, who was, if
possible, a more pitiable poltroon than