st corner of the room, elevated on a crimson velvet cushion,
sat the Vizier, wrapped in a superb pelisse: on his head was a vast
turban, in his belt a dagger, incrusted with jewels, and on the
little finger of his right hand he wore a solitaire as large as the
knob on the stopper of a vinegar-cruet, and which was said to have
cost two thousand five hundred pounds sterling. In his left hand he
held a string of small coral beads, a comboloio which he twisted
backwards and forwards during the greater part of the visit. On the
sofa beside him lay a pair of richly-ornamented London-made pistols.
At some distance, on the same sofa, but not on a cushion, sat Memet,
the Pasha of Napoli Romania, whose son was contracted in marriage to
the Vizier's daughter. On the floor, at the foot of this pasha, and
opposite to the Vizier, a secretary was writing despatches. These
were the only persons in the room who had the honour of being seated;
for, according to the etiquette of this viceregal court, those who
received the Vizier's pay were not allowed to sit down in his
presence.

On my entrance, his highness motioned to me to sit beside him, and
through the medium of the interpreters began with some commonplace
courtly insignificancies, as a prelude to more interesting
conversation. In his manners I found him free and affable, with a
considerable tincture of humour and drollery. Among other questions,
he inquired if I had a wife: and being answered in the negative, he
replied to me himself in Italian, that I was a happy man, for he
found his very troublesome: considering their probable number, this
was not unlikely. Pipes and coffee were in the mean-time served.
The pipe presented to the Vizier was at least twelve feet long; the
mouth-piece was formed of a single block of amber, about the size of
an ordinary cucumber, and fastened to the shaft by a broad hoop of
gold, decorated with jewels. While the pipes and coffee were
distributing, a musical clock, which stood in a niche, began to play,
and continued doing so until this ceremony was over. The coffee was
literally a drop of dregs in a very small china cup, placed in a
golden socket. His highness was served with his coffee by Pasha Bey,
his generalissimo, a giant, with the tall crown of a dun-coloured
beaver-hat on his head. In returning the cup to him, the Vizier
elegantly eructed in his face. After the regale of the pipes and
coffee, the attendants withdrew, and his