There was an annual fair at Omalo in the month of April, and I had intended to make this the occasion of a journey through Sphakia. The Pasha was very earnest in counselling me not to go, and magnifying difficulties for the passage; but this only made me more disposed to go, if only to cross his humor, as he had been exceedingly annoying to me, and we carried on a polite war, defensive on my side, but on his, part of a systematic course of bullying the consuls in order to diminish their influence with the people. His tactics were to encourage infractions of the consular prerogatives, imprison their employees or protégés, make questions at the custom-house, etc. He had, immediately after my arrival, got up a question with me, a patrol of zapties (Albanian police) having entered the consulate to seize and carry off one of the sons of the vice-consul, who resided in the consulate. I demanded an apology, which he refused. We then exchanged sharp notes, first in French, and then on his part in Turkish, to which I replied in English--a mutual checkmate. Meeting him at a whist party just after, he complained that I had written in English, and he had been obliged to hunt Canéa for three days in order to find some person in confidence who could translate it for him, to which I replied that after four days' search for a person whom I could admit into the secrets of the consulate, I had been finally obliged to have recourse to the public interpreter. He thereupon promised to write in French, and in this language the diplomatic broil went on. The beginning of the row had been an exchange of words between the patrol and the offending protégé. Whose the fault of the first word was an open question, but one with which mine had nothing to do, as no provocation justified infringement of the consular privilege of exterritoriality. The zapties were put on trial. I had four witnesses, who deposed that they saw them in the house. The four zapties swore that they had not entered the doors, and the Pasha declined to render judgment against them, saying that, as there were four witnesses for and an equal number against, the truth could not be ascertained. I demanded that the testimony should be taken down for transmission to Constantinople, whither I intended to appeal. By this time the affair occupied the whole attention of the population of Canéa, a large majority being on my side, and the declaration of my intention to refer the affair to Constantinople annoyed the Pasha very much, as he saw that he would be compelled to make excuses. He, ingeniously, in taking the testimony of my witnesses, omitted administering the oath, while he administered it to his own. When, therefore, the certified copy of the proceedings was delivered me, I called in the parish priest, and took the evidence anew under oath, affixed it to the record, and sent it all on. This was having a trump too many for him, as he had intended to invalidate the evidence of my