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»RUMMONI). 285 retinue and eqnipagc,. but the French anil Venetians made strong efforts for that purpose, though theyexcelled us in nothing but number and confusion : onr little troop marched with a genteel decency, and every thing was conducted in an elegant manner. The greatest part of the country, until we arrived at the river Peroï, which is about eight miles from Nicosia, is extremely barren; we lodged very agreeably at a village called Margo, from whence we set out next morning, and went to a Greek convent, a little way from town. The pasha had sent his horses very finely caparisoned à la Turcpioise, to wait our coming; a very extraordinary complimenti these we mounted, and our little cavalcade began to move in this order. First, the chawush qol-aghasi, of the ojaq, or corps, of the janisaries; then the mttzur of the ojaq, or corps, of the sìpaìiì; these officers may be understood as majors, adjutants, and sometimes as agents for the respective corps; after them rode the consul's janisaries, the chancellor and first dragoman, Doctor Gratta, the first dragoman's son being a protégé, the dragoman of the seraglio, the consul, with his cJtoqadars on each side of his horse; Mr lioddiugton and your humble servant, together with Mr Golightly, an English gentleman who was occasionally here, and Mr Gibson, who was followed by the servants in their different degrees. A little while after we halted at our lodgings, the consul sent to know if the Vazir pacha would please to give him audience : and the answer was, when it would be most convenient for the consul. We therefore set ont for the palace, before dinner, in the order I have already described, and all of us dismounted at the gate, except the consul, who rode into the court of the seraglio, where ten or a dozen fine horses stood gorgeously caparisoned ; indeed their furniture was incredibly extravagant. All the guards and officers of the palace were ranged in the court, stairs, passages, and apartments through which we passed to the presence-chamber, and all was silent and still. There we stood until the entrance of the pacha, who clapped the consul on the shoulder, as a mark of high favour and regard, desired him to sit, and several times bad him welcome : nobody sat but the pacha on his divan, and the consul on an elbow-chair of state : the pacha's not being in the room to receive him, and the consul's standing until the other entered, proceeds from this punctilio. A vazir, a mussalim, and even those of an inferior rank, think it is too groat condescension in them to rise from their seats and salute an infidel ; and, on the other hand, a consul will not go into the presence of any officer, whatever his distinction may be, unless he is received standing; so that this method was agreed upon as a salvo for the honour of both : and these preliminaries, with several others, are always settled by the intercourse of the dragoman, before the consul goes to audience. After some common-place speeches, and hollow assurances of friendship, which gold alone can realize, we were entertained with coffee, sweet-meats, and sherbet, and lastly, with perfumes, which always imply a licence to withdraw. When the consul rose to take his leave, he was presented by the vazir with a fcitrk, or robe lined with fur, which was put upon him by one of the officers. jt You may imagine this was a distinguishing mark of generosity, but I never heard of that virtue among the subjects of the Grand Signor; and this vestment had been dearly bought by the presents which the consnl had made him in the morning. From the presence-chamber we retreated through the same range of officers, and were favoured with an audience of the kiaya, or prime minister, coudncted in the same manner, though with this difference, the minister is not served upon the knee like his master; thence we returned to our lodgings, with the same order and parade. The city of Nicosia is situated in the midst of a beautiful plain, between Olympus and another range of mountains, which run from the south-west to the north-west of the island :

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