During his South American and Mediterranean cruises Maitland kept a very full and interesting private journal. It reveals him to us as a man of immense mental activity and power of observation, hard humorous common-sense, and an almost Pepysian interest in all the doings of mankind. Politics, archaeology, cricket, theatricals, scandal, the terms of a treaty, the _menu_ of a good dinner, the armament of a foreign frigate, the toilette of a pretty woman,--everything interests him, and is observed, remembered, and noted in his diary. A few extracts have been given; within the limits of this sketch they cannot be multiplied. His account of the slave-market at Constantinople may serve as a specimen of his power of picturesque description. * * * * * _October 12, 1829._--... We then crossed the harbour, and went to the slave-market. It is held in a small square, with some houses in the middle, and on two sides of the square are small rooms, where the slaves for sale are kept until their turn comes to be put up. Adjoining the doors of these rooms or cells are raised platforms of wood on which a number of black women and girls were sitting; and I saw a few white ones inside. Outside these platforms are others, where the purchasers or those intending to purchase slaves were placed; and between the two platforms there is a passage three or four feet wide. At another corner of the market there were some black men and boys, chained by the legs to prevent their escaping, and among them we saw a very good-looking respectably dressed young man, also in chains. We were told he was a Georgian, but could not discover his history, though it is probable that his master had died, and that he was sold in consequence. He was smoking a pipe, and looked very disconsolate. A little after nine o'clock, the chief of the market arrived, and the sale began. Two or three black girls were first put up. A crier went round the square, followed by the slave for sale, passing through the passage before mentioned. When any person bids, the crier goes on, calling the sum bid, until some one bids higher, and continues calling till no more is bid, when the slave becomes the property of the highest bidder. There were three or four criers, with each a slave following them, going round the bazaar at the same time. At last a very pretty-looking white girl about sixteen years of age was put up for sale. Several bids had been made before I discovered her; and when I came up to the place where she was standing, Lambrino, the admiral's interpreter, asked the crier what sum was bid for her. He answered 1200 piastres; upon which the girl turned round in a rage, and said to Lambrino, "You dog-faced fellow, what is that to you?" and the interpreter being a little man, with high shoulders and a face very much shaped like a dog's, the girl's remark excited a general laugh. The crier, however, was by no means pleased at the young lady for