The rancorous ill-treatment which they experienced at the hands of their fanatical oppressors, was without doubt increased by the fact that these found themselves a small and isolated band, all-powerful upon the immediate spot they occupied, but surrounded by states which were implacable enemies to their religion; while the remote position of these provinces, and the difficulty of communication, have combined to render the people, even now, less tolerant than the more legitimate devotees of Mahometanism.  That idea of superiority over other peoples and religions, which the Mussulman faith inculcates, was eagerly embraced by them at the time of their first perversion, and conspired to make them zealots in their newly-adopted creed.  The feeling was inherited, and even augmented, with each succeeding generation, until it has become the prominent feature of the race.  To such an extent has this been indulged, that the Bosniac Mussulmans of the present day not only despise all other religions, but look upon the Mahommedans of other parts of the empire as very little superior to the Christians.  The apathy and indifference to progress which has inevitably ensued upon the adoption of Islamism, has made its effects strikingly apparent in these provinces; and although entirely deprived of all those Seignorial rights which their ancestors possessed, the Mussulman population appear perfectly satisfied with the lazy independence procured for them by the produce and rents of the land, of which they are the sole proprietors.  The Christians, on the other hand, are invariably the tenants, as it is beneath the dignity of a Mussulman to turn his hand to any kind of manual labour, i.e. so long as he can find a Christian to do it.

The Euchlemeh, or arrangement for the tenure of land, has long existed in this part of the empire, and has worked well whenever it has not been abused.  The original terms of the contract provided that the proprietor should give the land and the seed for sowing it, receiving in return one-third of the produce in kind.  The commission of which Kiamil Pacha was President in 1853, endeavoured, whilst regulating the taxation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to ameliorate the condition of the tenant as regards the rental of land.  They decreed that he should be supplied with animals, implements, seeds, and also a house in which to live, while yielding to the proprietor in return from 25 to 50 per cent. of the products, according to the more or less prolific nature of land in the different parts of the provinces.  These terms were cheerfully accepted by the agriculturalists, by whom they were considered just.  The internal state of the Ottoman empire, unfortunately, renders it impossible that these conditions should in all cases be adhered to, and without doubt the tenants are often compelled to pay from 10 to 20 per cent. more than the legal rent.  These instances, however, are less frequent than they were a few years ago, and very much less frequent than the depreciators of Turkey would have us to believe.  The most scrupulous observance of the terms of the Euchlemeh will be enforced by the Ottoman government if it be alive to its own interests, and the more so that the infraction of it has been, and will always be, turned to account by those who would fain see rebellion and discord prevailing in the Turkish provinces, rather than unity and peace.