448 
Fienced any obstruction in reach- 
ing this city? Soon after the 
conversation commenced, a pipe 
was brought to each of us by the 
attendants, the mouth-pieces of 
amber, set round with small dia- 
monds; and shortly afterwards 
coffee of the finest quality was 
handed to us in china cups, within 
golden ones. The Vizier himself 
drank coffee, and smoked at inter- 
vals, during the progress of the 
conversation. 
The inquiries he made respect- 
ing our journey to Ioannina, gave 
us the opportunity of compliment- 
ing him on the excellent police of 
his dominions, and the attention 
he has given to the state of the 
roads. I mentioned to him gene- 
rally, Lord Byron’s poetical de- 
scription of Albania, the interest 
it had excited in England, and 
Mr. Hobdhouse’s intended publi- 
cation of his travels in the same 
country. . He seemed pleased with 
these circumstances, and stated 
his recollection of Lord Byron. 
He then spoke of the present state 
of Europe; inquired what was 
our latest intelligence of the ad- 
vance of the French armies in 
Russia, and what was the progress 
of affairs in Spain. Onthe former 
point, it was evident that the in- 
formation we gave was not new 
to him, though he did not express- 
ly say this; his manner, how- 
ever, evinced the strong interest 
he felt in the subject, and he 
seemed as if he were seeking in- 
directly to obtain our opinions 
upon it. 
_ The next +subject of conversa- 
tion was prefaced by his asking us, 
whether we had seen at Santa- 
-Maura, one of his armed corvettes, 
which had been seized and carried 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1815. 
thither by an English frigate. If 
bringing forward the subject 
during our interview with him, 
the Vizier spoke with animation, — 
or even a slight warmth of man- — 
ner. He complained of the in- 
justice done to him in the capture 
of his vessel, denied the right of 
capture in this particular case, and 
alleged his various good offices 
towards our government, as well 
as to individuals of the English 
nation, as what ought to have 
secured him against such acts of 
hostility. We answered, that as 
mere travellers we could not ven- | 
ture to give a reply that might be 
deemed official, but that we doubt- 
ed not, from our knowledge of the 
disposition of the English govern- 
ment, that when the affair was pro- 
perly explained, its final arrange- 
ment would be _ both just and 
satisfactory to his Highness. This 
of course meant little, and the 
Vizier doubtless understood it as 
such. He added only afew words, 
and then, with a loud laugh, ex- 
pressed his desire of changing 
the subject. 
Before audience concluded, he 
mentioned his having been inform-’ 
ed that I was a physician, and 
asked whether I had studied me- 
dicine in England? Replying to 
this in the affirmative, he expressed 
his wish to consult me on his own 
complaints before we should quit 
Toannina, a proposition to which I 
bowed assent, though not without 
apprehensions of difficulty in pre- 
scribing for the case of such a pa- 
tient. He dismissed us very graci- 
ously, after we had been with him 
about half an hour. 
The manner of the Vizier in 
this interview was courteous and 
polite, without any want of the 
dignity 
