CHARACTERS. 
dignity which befits his situation. 
There is not, either in his coun- 
tenance or speech, that formal 
and unyielding apathy, which is 
the characteristic of the Turks as 
a people; but more vivacity, hu- 
mour, and change of expression. 
His laugh is very peculiar, and its 
deep tone, approaching to agrowl, 
might also startle an ear unac- 
customed to it. 
A day or two afterwards he 
again sent for us to the Seraglio, 
and, some general conversation 
having taken place, he asked seve- 
ral questions which evidently had 
relation to his health, and formed 
a sort of exercise of his judgment 
upon me. 
After this preamble, he entered 
upon a narrative of his complaints, 
which, though I could only dis- 
tantly follow it in his own lan- 
guage, yet was evidently marked 
by good precision and force in 
the manner of relation. Hecon- 
tinued speaking for about fifteen 
minutes, and afforded me during 
this time a fine occasion of mark- 
ing the feature of his countenance 
and manner. The narrative was 
translated tome with little abridg- 
ment, and much seeming accu- 
racy, by the dragoman Colovo. In 
its substance, 1 may remark ge- 
nerally, that there was a good 
deal of credulity and prejudice 
displayed on some points; on 
others, more soundness of judg- 
ment than iscommon to the ‘Turks 
asanation. For various reasons 
I do not feel myself at liberty to 
give the particulars of this nar- 
rative, nor would they afford any 
thing new tothe medical reader. 
{t may suffice to say, that.at this 
time he was suffering under no 
acute disorder ; that his symptoms 
Vor, LVII. 
449 
‘ 
were chiefly of a chronic nature, 
depending partly upon his age, 
partly upon circumstances in his 
former life, with other symptoms 
that I learnt more from my own 
observation than his report, which 
required the use of preventive 
means, to obviate eventual dan- 
ger. 
In those interviews, however, 
which were very frequent during 
the last week of our stay at Ioan- 
nina, the conversation was not 
confined to medical matters alone, 
but went into other topics of a 
more familiar kind. Situated as 
I now was with him, I could feel 
perfectlyat ease in thisintercourse, 
which every circumstance contri- 
buted to render highly interesting. 
He usually sent for me to the 
Seraglio in the afternoon or even- 
ing; sometimes alone, or. occa- 
sionally with my friend, when he 
had nothing to say about his com- 
plaints. At whatever time it was, 
the approaches to the Seraglio 
were always crowded with the 
singular groups already described. 
The Vizier was rarely to be found 
inthesame room ontwosuccessive 
days ; and, during my present stay 
at Ioannina, I was with him in 
eight different apartments. His 
dress was not greatly varied ; and 
only on one occasion I saw him 
with a turban instead of the blue 
cap, which he wore at the time of 
our first interview. His attitude 
also was very uniform, according 
to the Turkish habit. I seldom 
saw him rise from his couch, 
though once he did so, while ex- 
plaining to me the decline of his 
bodily powers, striding firmly at 
the same time across the chamber, 
as if to show that still much of 
energy was !eft. His manner of 
2G 
