cii. xviii.] The Jlhidir of Ttidniiw. . 45 



uccidents. He was accompanied by the jMudiiv 

 whom we recognised as our old acquaintance Ali 

 Bey, the Circassian brother-in-law of the Pasha of 

 Aleppo. Tlie Mudir seemed delighted to see us, a."?^ 

 Avell he might be, for he is the only foreigner resi- 

 dent in Tudmur, and cannot speak more than a few 

 words of Arabic. He poured out at once to us in a 

 strange mixture of Arabic and Turkish, and in the 

 ridiculously plaintive voice Circassians affect, his grief 

 at having to reside in such a place, relating aloud 

 in the most iiaive way before a mixed audience of 

 Tudmuri that there was not a soul fit for him to 

 associate with in the town. As for occupation or 

 employment there was nothing, nothing that a 

 gentleman could concern himself with. His duties. 

 were a degradation, trying to collect taxes from 

 people who would not pay, and attending to 

 robbery cases without soldiers or police to support 

 his authority. He was afraid of the people in the 

 town, and of the people out of it. On one occasion 

 he had been attacked by some Amur in the desert 

 and got his knuckles hurt in the tussle, but he was 

 well mounted and had got away. If he had known 

 what a forlorn place he was coming to he would 

 never have left Aleppo. He had written to his 

 sister, the Valy's wife, to complain of being treated 

 thus, and to say that he would not stay another 

 month in Tudmur for all the gold of Stamboul. 

 The o'ood-natured Tudmuri listened to this with 

 rather contemptuous faces, but besought him to 



