e Vizir of Yanina; I
have since come to the conclusion that there was some sense in his
notions of criminal jurisprudence.

In the afternoon, as I was looking out of the window of my lodging, I
saw the Vizir going by with a great number of armed people, and I was
told that in the present disturbed state of the country he never went
out to take a ride without all these attendants. First came a hundred
lancers on horseback, dressed in a kind of European uniform; then two
horsemen, each with a pair of small kettle-drums attached to the front
of his saddle. They kept up an unceasing pattering upon these drums as
they rode along. This is a Tartar or Persian custom; and in some parts
of Tartary the dignity of khan is conferred by strapping these two
little drums on the back of the person whom the king delighteth to
honour; and then the king beats the drums as the new khan walks slowly
round the court. Thus a thing is reckoned a great honour in one part of
the world which in another is accounted a disgrace; for when a soldier
is incorrigible, we drum him out of the regiment, whilst the Tartar khan
is drummed into his dignity. After the drummers came a brilliantly
dressed company of kawasses, with silver pistols and yataghans; then
several trumpeters; and after them the Vizir himself on a fine tall
horse; he was dressed in the new Turkish Frank style, with the usual red
cap on his head; but he had an immense red cloth cloak sumptuously
embroidered with gold, which quite covered him, so that no part of the
great man was visible, except his two eyes, his nose, and one of his
hands, upon which was a splendid diamond ring. Two grooms walked by the
sides of his horse, each with one hand on the back of the saddle. Every
one bowed as the Vizir went by; and I became a distinguished person from
the moment that he gave me a condescending nod. The procession was
closed by a crowd of officers and attendants on horseback in gorgeous
Albanian dresses, with silver bridles and embroidered housings. They
carried what I thought at first were spears, but I soon discovered that
they were long pipes; there was quite a forest of them, of all lengths
and sizes. When the Vizir was gone and the dust subsided, I strolled out
of the town on foot, when I came upon the troops, who were learning the
new European exercise. Seeing a man sitting on a carpet in the middle of
the plain, I went up to him and found that he was the colonel and
commander of this arm