Such was the
bureau of the Deftendar Effendi, who sat surrounded with papers, and
the implements of writing. He was a man apparently of fifty-five
years of age, slightly inclining to corpulence, with a very short
neck, surmounted by large features, coarsely chiselled; but not devoid
of a certain intelligence in his eye, and dignity in general effect.
He spoke English with a correct accent, but slowly, occasionally
stopping to remember a word; thus showing that his English was not
imperfect from want of knowledge, but rusty from want of practice. He
was an Egyptian Turk, and had been for eight years the commercial
agent of Mohammed Ali at Malta, and had, moreover, visited the
principal countries of Europe.
I then took a series of short and rapid whiffs of my pipe while I
bethought me of the best manner of treating the subject of my visit,
and then said, "that few orientals could draw a distinction between
politics and geography; but that with a man of his calibre and
experience, I was safe from misinterpretation--that I was collecting
the materials for a work on the Danubian provinces, and that for any
information which he might give me, consistently with the exigencies
of his official position, I should feel much indebted, as I thought I
was least likely to be misunderstood by stating clearly the object of
my journey to the authorities, while information derived from the
fountain-head was the most valuable.
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