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"HIS EXCELLENCY" 377
midst of his labours ; one could see how he went about
them ; one could form ideas of how those schemes were
faring and likely to fare. It was impossible to avoid
comparing him with British oflBcials in positions nominally
somewhat similar. Between them was all the
difference imaginable— all the difference between the
man who has and the man who has not, but is determined
to possess. The one has only to fend off
rivals and carry on and hold, the other is stretching
body and soul to achieve. The Consul just gone back
to Adana regarded his Excellency and all that he
stood for as an intruding agency seeking to diminish
and overthrow in these parts the long- established
position of the British Empire ; his Excellency, on
the other hand, plainly recognised himself as agent
of a rival who had that purpose in view and who
must spare no effort to succeed. Part of the process
was to be friendly with his rivals and not let them
suspect how well he progressed.
And yet with all perfections one was conscious of
limitations and difficulties not recognised by this able
official or his superiors. Though fixed by duty in a
tumble-down village, he was heart and soul in his
work ; but the need for his presence, one felt, only
arose because of German defects. He explained at
some length what that work was. There had been
trouble between the German staff and Turks in this
district. The acquisition of land for the railway had
been opposed, and in a dispute between a German
official and a Turkish landowner the German had
shot in self-defence and killed the Turk. The
incident had threatened to have serious results, for
Moslem feelings were embittered and work upon
the railway delayed.
" I am here," his Excellency said, " to settle these
unfortunate troubles, and give support and firmness
to our engineers and construction staff." His story
bore out what I had heard at Adana— that the affair
had become so threatening at one time that the
German staff hastily left Baghche, some even going