"Yes," said the man, who did not seem quite to relish the idea of his reward being so indefinitely postponed; "but the Effendi is going to Sivas?" "Yes." "He will see the Pacha there." "Very likely." "Then will he tell the Pacha of my great merits, and ask him to give me some higher employment?" "If it pleases Allah, you will receive some higher post," I piously observed. "Our destinies are in his hand." "Yes," said the man, "so they are. But for all that, I wish that you would speak to the Pacha for me." From the two examples I have here cited, it will readily be seen that a system of promotion through favouritism is very deeply rooted amidst the Turks. I had been seen riding with the Caimacan. It was thought that I might see the Pacha at Sivas—this was quite sufficient to induce some of the inhabitants of Tokat to believe that any request I might make to the Pacha or Caimacan would necessarily be granted. "It was fortunate," here remarked the engineer, "that you told Osman to give the baksheesh to a Corporal, and that a Turkish servant heard you give the order. If the fellow had been a Christian, the servant would never have taken the trouble to mention it to him. But the fact of the Corporal being a co-religionist was too much for the servant. It has enabled you to detect the fraud." "This is one of the worst features of the country," he continued. "The Turks will not do anything to aid a Christian at the expense of a Mohammedan, even if the Mohammedan is most clearly in the wrong. And it is much the same with the Christians in respect to their co-religionists. The result is that the Armenians and Turks do not pull well together. The law, too, is faulty, and requires amendment."