Accordingly the poor _malmudir_ found himself cold-shouldered and thwarted at every turn by the officials who were nominally his colleagues; by the _cadi_, or judge of the district; by the _binbashi_ who controlled the police. They persistently refused to support him in carrying out his own duties, particularly if the defaulters whom he wished to bring to book chanced to be their own private friends; and their continual snubbing of him had infected even his own subordinates who obeyed him grudgingly and reluctantly. The _kaimakam_, his immediate chief, had indeed always shown himself friendly; but even with his support he felt he could make no headway; and, though still but new to his office, he was already sick of the job. Indeed he had already written twice to the _Vali_ begging to be transferred to Beirut or Aleppo, but as yet he had received no answer. This however, we privately thought, was not surprising; for Tahir Pasha never answers anybody; and every official in his _vilayet_ would like to be transferred to Beirut or Aleppo if he could! Of course it is not at all improbable that centuries of subjection have left the Christians in Turkey constitutionally unfit for positions of authority: that, for all their superior intelligence, they are at present as incapable of governing Turks and Kurds and Arabs as the Bengali Babus are of governing Pathans and Sikhs. But even if the power is latent in them, it is bound at first to be exercised in the face of intense resentment; and this fact will long constitute a formidable obstacle to any constitutional reform. It seemed that the _malmudir's_ welcome to us was to some extent accounted for by the distinction which European visitors would confer upon him in the eyes of his carping colleagues. He was earnest with us to remain as his guests for a second day in order that he might exhibit us; but from this we begged to excuse ourselves as we could not spare the time. However, _faute de mieux_, we might at least call on the _kaimakam_, and thither our host conducted us as soon as we had finished our coffee.