2o TRAVELS TO DISCOVER 



Two ftandards of white filk, flripcd with red, were car- 

 ried before him to the mofque, from whence he went ta 

 his own houfe to receive the compliments of his friends, 

 fn the afternoon of that day I went to pay my refpects to 

 him, and found him fitting on a large wooden elbow-chair, 

 at the head of two files of naked favages, who made arr 

 avenue from his chair to the door. He had nothing upon 

 him but a coarfe cotton fliirt, fo dirty that, it feemed, all 

 pains to clean it again would be thrown away, and fo fhort 

 that it fcarcely reached his knees. He was very tall and; 

 lean, his colour black, had a large mouth and nofe ; in 

 place of a beard, a very fcanty tuft of grey hairs upon the 

 point of his chin ; large, dull, and heavy eyes ; a kind of 

 malicious, contemptuous, fmile on his countenance ; he: 

 was altogether of a moil ftupid and brutal appearance. His> 

 character perfectly correfponded with his figure, for he was 

 a man of mean abilities, cruel to excefs, avaricious, and a. 

 great drunkard.. 



I presented my firman. — The greateft bafha in the Tur- 

 kish empire would have rifen upon feeing it, kifTed it, and 

 carried it to his forehead ; and I really expected that Omar 

 Aga, for the day he bore that title, and received the caftan, 

 would have fhewn this piece of refpeet to his mailer. But 

 he did not even receive it into his hand, and puihed it back 

 to me again, faying, " Do you read it all to me word for 

 word." — " I told him it was Turktfh; that I had never learn- 

 ed to read a word of that language." — " Nor I either," fays 

 he ; " and I believe I never mail." I then gave him Meti- 

 cal Aga's letter, the SherriuVs, Ali Bey's, and the Janiza- 

 rics letters. He took them all together in both his hands, 

 auci laid them unopened befide him, faying, " You mould. 



have 



