Having replaced the diploma, the Minister next put into my hands a miniature portrait of the Sultan, surrounded by a wreath, of which the flowers were diamonds, and the leaves wrought in enamel; enclosed within a second frame-work of the same precious gems, formed into emblematical devices, and dazzlingly brilliant. This magnificent decoration was appended to a chain of fine gold, and secured by a diamond clasp. When I had sufficiently admired it, the gallant old man begged me to wear it for an instant in order that it might acquire an additional value in his eyes; and the gentle Conjefèm Hanoum flung it over my head, and entangled the chain in my ringlets, to the great delight of the Vèzir, who watched the progress of its release with genuine enjoyment, and told me that he had never before seen his decoration to so much advantage. The only drawback to these costly ornaments exists in the fact that they are insecure possessions; as in case of death, or dismission from office, they are returned to the Sultan. It was consequently with even more pride, that the Minister exhibited to me a smaller, and perhaps more elegant order, bestowed upon him by his Sovereign as an acknowledgment of his faithful services to the Porte; accompanied by an intimation that on his decease it was to be transferred to his eldest son, in order that it might serve to record the regard and gratitude of his master for the exemplary manner in which he had ever done his duty to his country. I was not a little amused at the epicurean manner in which the Vèzir smoked. Every ten minutes his chibouk was changed by one or other of his wives, by which means he merely imbibed the aroma of the tobacco, while he had an opportunity of displaying the variety and costliness of his pipes, without being guilty of any apparent ostentation; but, handsome as several of them undoubtedly were, that of which he was making use when I entered was infinitely the most beautiful.