Goddess of the week : Kali - The Thugees

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Very interesting especially from a political standpoint about how big

business can hide through very thorough conspiracy

Stolen from:

http://www.litrix.com/madraven/madne013.htmTHE THUGS, or

PHANSIGARS.Orribili favelle -- parole di dolor.--DANTE.Among the

black deeds which Superstition has imposed as duties uponher wretched

votaries, none are more horrible than the practices ofthe murderers,

who, under the name of Thugs, or Phansigars, have solong been the

scourge of India. For ages they have pursued their darkand dreadful

calling, moulding assassination into a science, orextolling it as a

virtue, worthy only to be practised by a racefavoured of Heaven. Of

late years this atrocious delusion has excitedmuch attention, both in

this country and in India; an attention which,it is to be hoped, will

speedily lead to the uprooting of a doctrineso revolting and

anti-human. Although the British Government hasextended over

Hindostan for so long a period, it does not appear thatEuropeans even

suspected the existence of this mysterious sect untilthe commencement

of the present century. In the year 1807, a gang ofThugs, laden with

the plunder of murdered travellers, was accidentallydiscovered. The

inquiries then set on foot revealed to the astonishedGovernment a

system of iniquity unparalleled in the history of man.Subsequent

investigation extended the knowledge; and by throwing lightupon the

peculiar habits of the murderers, explained the reason whytheir

crimes had remained so long undiscovered. In the following pageswill

be found an epitome of all the information which has reachedEurope

concerning them, derived principally from Dr. Sherwood'streatise upon

the subject, published in 1816, and the still morevaluable and more

recent work of Mr. Sleeman, entitled the"Ramaseeana; or, Vocabulary

of the peculiar Language of the Thugs."The followers of this sect are

called Thugs, or T'hugs, and theirprofession Thuggee. In the south of

India they are called Phansigars:the former word signifying "a

deceiver;" and the latter, "astrangler." They are both singularly

appropriate. The profession ofThuggee is hereditary, and embraces, it

is supposed, in every part ofIndia, a body of at least ten thousand

individuals, trained to murderfrom their childhood; carrying it on in

secret and in silence, yetglorying in it, and holding the practice of

it higher than any earthlyhonour. During the winter months, they

usually follow some reputablecalling, to elude suspicion; and in the

summer, they set out in gangsover all the roads of India, to plunder

and destroy. These gangsgenerally contain from ten to forty Thugs,

and sometimes as many astwo hundred. Each strangler is provided with

a noose, to despatch theunfortunate victim, as the Thugs make it a

point never to cause deathby any other means. When the gangs are very

large, they divide intosmaller bodies; and each taking a different

route, they arrive at thesame general place of rendezvous to divide

the spoil. They sometimestravel in the disguise of respectable

traders; sometimes as sepoys ornative soldiers; and at others, as

government officers. If they chanceto fall in with an unprotected

wayfarer, his fate is certain. One Thugapproaches him from behind,

and throws the end of a sash round hisneck; the other end is seized

by a second at the same instant, crossedbehind the neck, and drawn

tightly, while with their other hand thetwo Thugs thrust his head

forward to expedite the strangulation: athird Thug seizes the

traveller by the legs at the same moment, and heis thrown to the

ground, a corpse before he reaches it.But solitary travellers are not

the prey they are anxious to seek. Awealthy caravan of forty or fifty

individuals has not unfrequentlybeen destroyed by them; not one soul

being permitted to escape.Indeed, there is hardly an instance upon

record of any one's escapefrom their hands, so surely are their

measures taken, and so well dothey calculate beforehand all the risks

and difficulties of theundertaking. Each individual of the gang has

his peculiar dutyallotted to him. Upon-approaching a town, or serai,

two or three,known as the Soothaes, or "inveiglers," are sent in

advance toascertain if any travellers are there; to learn, if

possible, theamount of money or merchandize they carry with them,

their hours ofstarting in the morning, or any other particulars that

may be of use.If they can, they enter into conversation with them,

pretend to betravelling to the same place, and propose, for mutual

security, totravel with them. This intelligence is duly communicated

to theremainder of the gang. The. place usually chosen for the murder

issome lonely part of the road in the vicinity of a jungle, and

thetime, just before dusk. At given signals, understood only

bythemselves, the scouts of the party station themselves in the

front,in the rear, and on each side, to guard against surprise. A

stranglerand assistant strangler, called Bhurtote and Shamshea,

placethemselves, the one on the right, and the other on the left of

thevictim, without exciting his suspicion. At another signal the

noose istwisted, drawn tightly by a strong hand at each extremity,

and thetraveller, in a few seconds, hurried into eternity. Ten,

twelve,twenty, and in some instances, sixty persons have been thus

despatchedat the same moment. Should any victim, by a rare chance,

escape theirhands, he falls into those of the scouts who are

stationed withinhearing, who run upon him and soon overpower

him.Their next care is to dispose of the bodies. So cautious are they

toprevent detection, that they usually break all the joints to

hastendecomposition. They then cut open the body to prevent it

swelling inthe grave and causing fissures in the soil above, by which

means thejackals might be attracted to the spot, and thereby lead to

discovery.When obliged to bury the body in a frequented district,

they kindle afire over the grave to obliterate the traces of the

newly turnedearth. Sometimes the grave-diggers of the party, whose

office, likethat of all the rest, is hereditary, are despatched to

make the gravesin the morning at some distant spot, by which it is

known thetravellers will pass. The stranglers, in the mean time,

journeyquietly with their victims, conversing with them in the most

friendlymanner. Towards nightfall they approach the spot selected for

theirmurder; the signal is given, and they fall into the graves that

havebeen ready for them since day-break. On one occasion, related

byCaptain Sleeman, a party of fifty-nine people, consisting of

fifty-twomen and seven women, were thus simultaneously strangled, and

throwninto the graves prepared for them in the morning. Some of

thesetravellers were on horseback and well armed, but the Thugs, who

appearto have been upwards of two hundred in a gang, had provided

againstall risk of failure. The only one left alive of all that

numerousparty, was an infant four years old, who was afterwards

initiated intoall the mysteries of Thuggee.If they cannot find a

convenient opportunity for disposing of thebodies, they carry them

for many miles, until they come to a spotsecure from intrusion, and

to a soil adapted to receive them. If fearof putrefaction admonishes

them to use despatch, they set up a largescreen or tent, as other

travellers do, and bury the body within theenclosure, pretending, if

inquiries are made, that their women arewithin. But this only happens

when they fall in with a victimunexpectedly. In murders which they

have planned previously, thefinding of a place of sepulture is never

left to hazard.Travellers who have the misfortune to lodge in the

same choultry orhostelry, as the Thugs, are often murdered during the

night. It iseither against their creed to destroy a sleeper, or they

find adifficulty in placing the noose round the neck of a person in

arecumbent position. When this is the case, the slumberer is

suddenlyaroused by the alarm of a snake or a scorpion. He starts to

his feet,and finds the fatal sash around his neck. -- He never

escapes.In addition to these Thugs who frequent the highways, there

areothers, who infest the rivers, and are called Pungoos. They do

notdiffer in creed, but only in a few of their customs, from

theirbrethren on shore. They go up and down the rivers in their own

boats,pretending to be travellers of consequence, or pilgrims,

proceedingto, or returning from Benares, Allahabad, or other sacred

places. Theboatmen, who are also Thugs, are not different in

appearance from theordinary boatmen on the river. The artifices used

to entice victims onboard are precisely similar to those employed by

the highway Thugs.They send out their "inveiglers" to scrape

acquaintance withtravellers, and find out the direction in which they

are journeying.They always pretend to be bound for the same place, and

vaunt thesuperior accommodation of the boat by which they are going.

Thetravellers fall into the snare, are led to the Thug captain, who

veryoften, to allay suspicion, demurs to take them, but eventually

agreesfor a moderate sum. The boat strikes off into the middle of

thestream; the victims are amused and kept in conversation for hours

bytheir insidious foes, until three taps are given on the deck

above.This is a signal from the Thugs on the look-out that the coast

isclear. In an instant the fatal noose is ready, and the travellers

areno more. The bodies are then thrown, warm and palpitating, into

theriver, from a hole in the side of the boat, contrived expressly

forthe purpose.A river Thug, who was apprehended, turned approver, to

save his ownlife, and gave the following evidence relative to the

practices of hisfraternity: -- "We embarked at Rajmahul. The

travellers sat on oneside of the boat, and the Thugs on the other;

while we three (himselfand two "stranglers,") were placed in the

stern, the Thugs on ourleft, and the travellers on our right. Some of

the Thugs, dressed asboatmen, were above deck, and others walking

along the bank of theriver, and pulling the boat by the joon, or

rope, and all, at the sametime, on the look-out. We came up with a

gentleman's pinnace and twobaggage-boats, and were obliged to stop,

and let them go on. Thetravellers seemed anxious; but were quieted by

being told that the menat the rope were tired, and must take some

refreshment. They pulledout something, and began to eat; and when the

pinnace had got on agood way, they resumed their work, and our boat

proceeded. It was nowafternoon; and, when a signal was given above,

that all was clear, thefive Thugs who sat opposite the travellers

sprang in upon them, and,with the aid of others, strangled them.

Having done this, they broketheir spinal bones, and then threw them

out of a hole made at theside, into the river, and kept on their

course; the boat being allthis time pulled along by the men on the

bank."That such atrocities as these should have been carried on for

nearlytwo centuries without exciting the attention of the

BritishGovernment, seems incredible. But our wonder will be

diminished whenwe reflect upon the extreme caution of the Thugs, and

the ordinarydangers of travelling in India. The Thugs never murder a

man near hisown home, and they never dispose of their booty near the

scene of themurder. They also pay, in common with other and less

atrociousrobbers, a portion of their gains to the Polygars, or

nativeauthorities of the districts in which they reside, to

secureprotection. The friends and relatives of the victims, perhaps

athousand miles off, never surmise their fate till a period has

elapsedwhen all inquiry would be fruitless, or, at least,

extremelydifficult. They have no clue to the assassins, and very

often imputeto the wild beasts of the jungles the slaughter committed

by thatwilder beast, man.There are several gradations through which

every member of thefraternity must regularly pass before he arrives

at the high office ofa Bhurtote, or strangler. He is first employed

as a scout -- then as asexton -- then as a Shumseea, or holder of

hands, and lastly as aBhurtote. When a man who is not of Thug

lineage, or who has not beenbrought up from his infancy among them,

wishes to become a strangler,he solicits the oldest, and most pious

and experienced Thug, to takehim under his protection and make him

his disciple; and under hisguidance he is regularly initiated. When

he has acquired sufficientexperience in the lower ranks of the

profession, he applies to hisGooroo, or preceptor, to give the

finishing grace to his education,and make a strangler of him. An

opportunity is found when a solitarytraveller is to be murdered; and

the tyro, with his preceptor, havingseen that the proposed victim is

asleep, and in safe keeping tilltheir return, proceed to a

neighbouring field and perform severalreligious ceremonies,

accompanied by three or four of the oldest andsteadiest members of

the gang. The Gooroo first offers up a prayer tothe goddess, saying,

"Oh, Kalee! Kun-kalee! Bhud-kalee! Oh, Kalee!Maha-kalee! Calkutta

Walee! if it seems fit to thee that the travellernow at our lodging

should die by the hands of this thy slave,vouchsafe us thy good

omen." They then sit down and watch for the goodomen; and if they

receive it within half an hour, conclude that theirgoddess is

favourable to the claims of the new candidate foradmission. If they

have a bad omen, or no omen at all, some other Thugmust put the

traveller to death, and the aspirant must wait a morefavourable

opportunity, purifying himself in the mean time by prayerand

humiliation for the favour of the goddess. If the good omen hasbeen

obtained, they return to their quarters; and the Gooroo takes

ahandkerchief and, turning his face to the west, ties a knot at one

endof it, inserting a rupee, or other piece of silver. This knot

iscalled the goor khat, or holy knot, and no man who has not

beenproperly ordained is allowed to tie it. The aspirant receives

itreverently in his right hand from his Gooroo, and stands over

thesleeping victim, with a Shumseea, or holder of hands, at his side.

Thetraveller is aroused, the handkerchief is passed around his neck,

and,at a signal from the Gooroo, is drawn tight till the victim

isstrangled; the Shumseea holding his hands to prevent his making

anyresistance. The work being now completed, the Bhurtote (no longer

anaspirant, but an admitted member) bows down reverently in the

dustbefore his Gooroo, and touches his feet with both his hands,

andafterwards performs the same respect to his relatives and friends

whohave assembled to witness the solemn ceremony. He then waits

foranother favourable omen, when he unties the knot and takes out

therupee, which he gives to his Gooroo, with any other silver which

hemay have about him. The Gooroo adds some of his own money, with

whichhe purchases what they call goor, or consecrated sugar, when a

solemnsacrifice is performed, to which all the gang are invited.

Therelationship between the Gooroo and his disciple is accounted the

mostholy that can be formed, and subsists to the latest period of

life. AThug may betray his father, but never his Gooroo.Dark and

forbidding as is the picture already drawn, it will becomestill

darker and more repulsive, when we consider the motives whichprompt

these men to systematic murder. Horrible as their practiceswould be,

if love of plunder alone incited them, it is infinitely morehorrible

to reflect that the idea of duty and religion is joined tothe hope of

gain, in making them the scourges of their fellows. Ifplunder were

their sole object, there would be reason to hope, thatwhen a member

of the brotherhood grew rich, he would rest from hisinfernal toils;

but the dismal superstition which he cherishes tellshim never to

desist. He was sent into the world to be a slayer of men,and he

religiously works out his destiny. As religiously he educateshis

children to pursue the same career, instilling into their minds,at

the earliest age, that Thuggee is the noblest profession a man

canfollow, and that the dark goddess they worship will always

providerich travellers for her zealous devotees.The following is the

wild and startling legend upon which the Thugsfound the divine origin

of their sect. They believe that, in theearliest ages of the world, a

gigantic demon infested the earth, anddevoured mankind as soon as

they were created. He was of so tall astature, that when he strode

through the most unfathomable depths ofthe great sea, the waves, even

in tempest, could not reach above hismiddle. His insatiable appetite

for human flesh almost unpeopled theworld, until Bhawanee, Kalee, or

Davee, the goddess of the Thugs,determined to save mankind by the

destruction of the monster. Nervingherself for the encounter, she

armed herself with an immense sword;and, meeting with the demon, she

ran him through the body. His bloodflowed in torrents as he fell dead

at her feet; but from every dropthere sprang up another monster, as

rapacious and as terrible as thefirst. Again the goddess upraised her

massive sword, and hewed downthe hellish brood by hundreds; but the

more she slew, the morenumerous they became. Every drop of their

blood generated a demon;and, although the goddess endeavoured to lap

up the blood ere itsprang into life, they increased upon her so

rapidly, that the labourof killing became too great for endurance.

The perspiration rolleddown her arms in large drops, and she was

compelled to think of someother mode of exterminating them. In this

emergency, she created twomen out of the perspiration of her body, to

whom she confided the holytask of delivering the earth from the

monsters. To each of the men shegave a handkerchief, and showed them

how to kill without sheddingblood. From her they learned to tie the

fatal noose; and they became,under her tuition, such expert

stranglers, that, in a very short spaceof time, the race of demons

became extinct.When there were no more to slay, the two men sought

the great goddess,in order to return the handkerchiefs. The grateful

Bhawanee desiredthat they would retain them, as memorials of their

heroic deeds; andin order that they might never lose the dexterity

that they hadacquired in using them, she commanded that, from

thenceforward, theyshould strangle men. These were the two first

Thugs, and from them thewhole race have descended. To the early Thugs

the goddess was moredirect in her favours, than she has been to their

successors. Atfirst, she undertook to bury the bodies of all the men

they slew andplundered, upon the condition that they should never

look back to seewhat she was doing. The command was religiously

observed for manyages, and the Thugs relied with implicit faith upon

the promise ofBhawanee; but as men became more corrupt, the

ungovernable curiosityof a young Thug offended the goddess, and led

to the withdrawal of aportion of her favour. This youth, burning with

a desire to see howshe made her graves, looked back, and beheld her in

the act, not ofburying, but of devouring, the body of a man just

strangled. Half ofthe still palpitating remains was dangling over her

lips. She was sohighly displeased that she condemned the Thugs, from

that timeforward, to bury their victims themselves. Another account

states thatthe goddess was merely tossing the body in the air; and

that, beingnaked, her anger was aggravated by the gaze of mortal eyes

upon hercharms. Before taking a final leave of her devotees, she

presentedthem with one of her teeth for a pickaxe, one of her ribs

for a knife,and the hem of her garment for a noose. She has not since

appeared tohuman eyes.The original tooth having been lost in the lapse

of ages, new pickaxeshave been constructed, with great care and many

ceremonies, by eachconsiderable gang of Thugs, to be used in making

the graves ofstrangled travellers. The pickaxe is looked upon with

the utmostveneration by the tribe. A short account of the process of

making it,and the rites performed, may be interesting, as showing

still furthertheir gloomy superstition. In the first place, it is

necessary to fixupon a lucky day. The chief Thug then instructs a

smith to forge theholy instrument: no other eye is permitted to see

the operation. Thesmith must engage in no other occupation until it

is completed, andthe chief Thug never quits his side during the

process. When theinstrument is formed, it becomes necessary to

consecrate it to theespecial service of Bhawnee. Another lucky day is

chosen for thisceremony, care being had in the mean time that the

shadow of noearthly thing fall upon the pickaxe, as its efficacy

would be for everdestroyed. A learned Thug then sits down; and

turning his face to thewest, receives the pickaxe in a brass dish.

After muttering someincantation, he throws it into a pit already

prepared for it, where itis washed in clear water. It is then taken

out, and washed again threetimes; the first time in sugar and water,

the second in sour milk, andthe third in spirits. It is then dried,

and marked from the head tothe point with seven red spots. This is

the first part of theceremony: the second consists in its

purification by fire. The pickaxeis again placed upon the brass dish,

along with a cocoa-nut, somesugar, cloves, white sandal-wood, and

other articles. A fire of themango tree, mixed with dried cow-dung,

is then kindled; and theofficiating Thug, taking the pickaxe with

both hands, passes it seventimes through the flames.It now remains to

be ascertained whether the goddess is favourable toher followers. For

this purpose, the cocoa-nut is taken from the dishand placed upon the

ground. The officiating Thug, turning to thespectators, and holding

the axe uplifted, asks, "Shall I strike?"Assent being given, he

strikes the nut with the but-end of the axe,exclaiming, "All hail!

mighty Davee! great mother of us all!" Thespectators respond, "All

hail! mighty Davee! and prosper thy children,the Thugs!"If the nut is

severed at the first blow, the goddess is favourable; ifnot, she is

unpropitious: all their labour is thrown away, and theceremony must

be repeated upon some more fitting occasion. But if thesign be

favourable, the axe is tied carefully in a white cloth andturned

towards the west, all the spectators prostrating themselvesbefore it.

It is then buried in the earth, with its point turned inthe direction

the gang wishes to take on their approaching expedition.If the

goddess desires to warn them that they will be unsuccessful, orthat

they have not chosen the right track, the Thugs believe that thepoint

of the axe will veer round, and point to the better way. Duringan

expedition, it is entrusted to the most prudent and exemplary Thugof

the party: it is his care to hold it fast. If by any chance heshould

let it fall, consternation spreads through the gang: thegoddess is

thought to be offended; the enterprise is at onceabandoned; and the

Thugs return home in humiliation and sorrow, tosacrifice to their

gloomy deity, and win back her estranged favour. Sogreat is the

reverence in which they hold the sacred axe, that a Thugwill never

break an oath that he has taken upon it. He fears that,should he

perjure himself, his neck would be so twisted by theoffended Bhawanee

as to make his face turn to his back; and that, inthe course of a few

days, he would expire in the most excruciatingagonies.The Thugs are

diligent observers of signs and omens. No expedition isever

undertaken before the auspices are solemnly taken. Upon thissubject

Captain Sleeman says, "Even the most sensible approvers, whohave been

with me for many years, as well Hindoos as Mussulmans,believe that

their good or ill success depended upon the skill withwhich the omens

were discovered and interpreted, and the strictnesswith which they

were observed and obeyed. One of the old Sindousestock told me, in

presence of twelve others, from Hydrabad, Behar, theDooah, Oude,

Rajpootana, and Bundelcund, that, had they not attendedto these

omens, they never could have thrived as they did. In ordinarycases of

murder, other men seldom escaped punishment, while they andtheir

families had, for ten generations, thrived, although they hadmurdered

hundreds of people. 'This,' said the Thug,' could never havebeen the

case had we not attended to omens, and had not omens beenintended for

us. There were always signs around us to guide us to richbooty, and

warn us of danger, had we been always wise enough todiscern them and

religious enough to attend to them.' Every Thugpresent concurred with

him from his soul."A Thug, of polished manners and great eloquence,

being asked by anative gentleman, in the presence of Captain Sleeman,

whether he neverfelt compunction in murdering innocent people, replied

with a smilethat he did not. "Does any man," said he, "feel

compunction infollowing his trade? and are not all our trades

assigned us byProvidence?" He was then asked how many people he had

killed with hisown hands in the course of his life? "I have killed

none," was thereply. "What! and have you not been describing a number

of murders inwhich you were concerned?True; but do you suppose that

I committedthem? Is any man killed by man's killing? Is it not the

hand of Godthat kills, and are we not the mere instruments in the

hands of God?"Upon another occasion, Sahib, an approver, being asked

if he had neverfelt any pity or compunction at murdering old men or

young children,or persons with whom he had sat and conversed, and who

had told him,perchance, of their private affairs -- their hopes and

their fears,their wives and their little ones? replied unhesi-

tatingly that henever did. From the time that the omens were

favourable, the Thugsconsidered all the travellers they met as

victims thrown into theirhands by their divinity to be killed. The

Thugs were the mereinstruments in the hands of Bhawanee to destroy

them. "If we did notkill them," said Sahib, "the goddess would never

again be propitiousto us, and we and our families would be involved

in misery and want.If we see or hear a bad omen, it is the order of

the goddess not tokill the travellers we are in pursuit of, and we

dare not disobey."As soon as an expedition has been planned, the

goddess is consulted.On the day chosen for starting, which is never

during the unluckymonths of July, September, and December, nor on a

Wednesday orThursday; the chief Thug of the party fills a brass jug

with water,which he carries in his right hand by his side. With his

left, heholds upon his breast the sacred pickaxe, wrapped carefully

in a whitecloth, along with five knots of turmeric, two copper, and

one silvercoin. He then moves slowly on, followed by the whole of the

gang, tosome field or retired place, where halting, with his

countenanceturned in the direction they wish to pursue, he lifts up

his eyes toheaven, saying, "Great goddess! universal mother! if this,

ourmeditated expedition, be fitting in thy sight, vouchsafe to help

us,and give us the signs of thy approbation." All the Thugs

presentsolemnly repeat the prayer after their leader, and wait in

silence forthe omen. If within half an hour they see Pilhaoo, or good

omen on theleft, it signifies that the goddess has taken them by the

left hand tolead them on; if they see the Thibaoo, or omen on the

right, itsignifies that she has taken them by the right hand also.

The leaderthen places the brazen pitcher on the ground and sits down

beside it,with his face turned in the same direction for seven hours,

duringwhich time his followers make all the necessary preparations for

thejourney. If, during this interval, no unfavourable signs are

observed,the expedition advances slowly, until it arrives at the bank

of thenearest stream, when they all sit down and eat of the goor,

orconsecrated sugar. Any evil omens that are perceived after

thisceremony may be averted by sacrifices; but any evil omens

before,would at once put an end to the expedition.Among the evil

omens are the following: -- If the brazen pitcher dropsfrom the hand

of the Jemadar or leader, it threatens great evil eitherto him or to

the gang -- sometimes to both. If they meet a funeralprocession, a

blind man, a lame man, an oil-vender, a carpenter, apotter, or a

dancing-master, the expedition will be dangerous. In likemanner it is

unlucky to sneeze, to meet a woman with an empty pail, acouple of

jackals, or a hare. The crossing of their path by the latteris

considered peculiarly inauspicious. Its cry at night on the left

issometimes a good omen, but if they hear it on the right it is

verybad; a warning sent to them from Bhawanee that there is danger if

theykill. Should they disregard this warning, and led on by the hope

ofgain, strangle any traveller, they would either find no booty on

him,or such booty as would eventually lead to the ruin and dispersion

ofthe gang. Bhawanee would be wroth with her children; and causing

themto perish in the jungle, would send the hares to drink water out

oftheir skulls.The good omens are quite as numerous as the evil. It

promises afortunate expedition, if, on the first day, they pass

through avillage where there is a fair. It is also deemed fortunate,

if theyhear wailing for the dead in any village but their own. To

meet awoman with a pitcher full of water upon her head, bodes a

prosperousjourney and a safe return. The omen is still more

favourable if she bein a state of pregnancy. It is said of the Thugs

of the Jumaldehee andLodaha tribes, that they always make the

youngest Thug of the partykick the body of the first person they

strangle, five times on theback, thinking that it will bring them

good luck. This practice,however, is not general. If they hear an ass

bray on the left at thecommencement of an expedition, and an another

soon afterwards on theright, they believe that they shall be

supereminently successful, thatthey shall strangle a multitude of

travellers, and find great booty.After every murder a solemn

sacrifice, called the Tuponee, isperformed by all the gang. The goor,

or consecrated sugar, is placedupon a large cloth or blanket, which is

spread upon the grass. Besideit is deposited the sacred pickaxe, and a

piece of silver for anoffering. The Jemadar, or chief of the party,

together with all theoldest and most prudent Thugs, take their places

upon the cloth, andturn their faces to the west. Those inferior Thugs

who cannot findroom upon the privileged cloth, sit round as close to

it as possible.A pit is then dug, into which the Jemadar pours a

small quantity ofthe goor, praying at the same time that the goddess

will always rewardher followers with abundant spoils. All the Thugs

repeat the prayerafter him. He then sprinkles water upon the pickaxe,

and puts a littleof the goor upon the head of every one who has

obtained a seat besidehim on the cloth. A short pause ensues, when

the signal for stranglingis given, as if a murder were actually about

to be committed, and eachThug eats his goor in solemn silence. So

powerful is the impressionmade upon their imagination by this

ceremony, that it almost drivesthem frantic with enthusiasm. Captain

Sleeman relates, that when hereproached a Thug for his share in a

murder of great atrocity, andasked him whether he never felt pity;

the man replied, "We all feelpity sometimes; but the goor of the

Tuponee changes our nature; itwould change the nature of a horse. Let

any man once taste of thatgoor, and he will be a Thug, though he know

all the trades and haveall the wealth in the world. I never was in

want of food; my mother'sfamily was opulent, and her relations high

in office. I have been highin office myself, and became so great a

favourite wherever I went thatI was sure of promotion; yet I was

always miserable when absent frommy gang, and obliged to return to

Thuggee. My father made me taste ofthat fatal goor, when I was yet a

mere boy; and if I were to live athousand years I should never

be.able to follow any other trade."The possession of wealth, station

in society, and the esteem of hisfellows, could not keep this man

from murder. From his extraordinaryconfession we may judge of the

extreme difficulty of exterminating asect who are impelled to their

horrid practises, not only by themotives of self-interest which

govern mankind in general, but by afanaticism which fills up the

measure of their whole existence. Evenseverity seems thrown away upon

the followers of this brutalizingcreed. To them, punishment is no

example; they have no sympathy for abrother Thug who is hung at his

own door by the British Government,nor have they any dread of his

fate. Their invariable idea is, thattheir goddess only suffers those

Thugs to fall into the hands of thelaw, who have contravened the

peculiar observances of Thuggee, and whohave neglected the omens she

sent them for their guidance.To their neglect of the warnings of the

goddess they attribute all thereverses which have of late years

befallen their sect. It is expresslyforbidden, in the creed of the

old Thugs, to murder women or cripples.The modern Thugs have become

unscrupulous upon this point, murderingwomen, and even children, with

unrelenting barbarity. Captain Sleemanreports several conversations

upon this subject, which he held atdifferent times with Thugs, who

had been taken prisoners, or who hadturned approvers. One of them,

named Zolfukar, said, in reply to theCaptain, who accused him of

murdering women, "Yes, and was not thegreater part of Feringeea's and

my gang seized, after we had murderedthe two women and the little

girl, at Manora, in 1830? and were we notourselves both seized soon

after? How could we survive things likethat? Our ancestors never did

such things." Lalmun, another Thug, inreply to a similar question,

said, "Most of our misfortunes have comeupon us for the murder of

women. We all knew that they would come uponus some day, for this and

other great sins. We were often admonished,but we did not take

warning; and we deserve our fates." In speaking ofthe supposed

protection which their goddess had extended to them informer times,

Zolfukar said: -- "Ah! we had some regard for religionthen! We have

lost it since. All kinds of men have been made Thugs,and all classes

of people murdered, without distinction; and littleattention has been

paid to omens. How, after this, could we think toescape? * * * * Davee

never forsook us till we neglected her!"It might be imagined that men

who spoke in this manner of the anger ofthe goddess, and who, even in

custody, showed so much veneration fortheir unhappy calling, would

hesitate before they turned informers,and laid bare the secrets and

exposed the haunts of their fellows: --among the more civilized

ruffians of Europe, we often find the onechivalrous trait of

character, which makes them scorn a reward thatmust be earned by the

blood of their accomplices: but in India thereis no honour among

thieves. When the approvers are asked, if they, whostill believe in

the power of the terrible goddess Davee, are notafraid to incur her

displeasure by informing of their fellows, theyreply, that Davee has

done her worst in abandoning them. She caninflict no severer

punishment, and therefore gives herself no furtherconcern about her

degenerate children. This cowardly doctrine is,however, of advantage

to the Government that seeks to put an end tothe sect, and has thrown

a light upon their practices, which couldnever have been obtained from

other sources.Another branch of the Thug abomination has more recently

beendiscovered by the indefatigable Captain Sleeman. The followers of

thissect are called MEGPUNNAS, and they murder travellers, not to rob

themof their wealth, but of their children, whom they afterwards sell

intoslavery. They entertain the same religious opinions as the Thugs,

andhave carried on their hideous practices, and entertained their

dismalsuperstition, for about a dozen years with impunity. The report

ofCaptain Sleeman states, that the crime prevails almost exclusively

inDelhi and the native principalities, or Rajpootana of Ulwar

andBhurtpore; and that it first spread extensively after the siege

ofBhurtpore in 1826.The original Thugs never or rarely travel with

their wives; but theMegpunnas invariably take their families with

them, the women andchildren being used to inveigle the victims. Poor

travellers arealways chosen by the Megpunnas as the objects of their

murderoustraffic. The females and children are sent on in advance to

makeacquaintance with emigrants or beggars on the road, travelling

withtheir families, whom they entice to pass the night in some

secludedplace, where they are afterwards set upon by the men, and

strangled.The women take care of the children. Such of them as are

beautiful aresold at a high price to the brothels of Delhi, or other

large cities;while the boys and ill-favoured girls are sold for

servants at a moremoderate rate. These murders are perpetrated

perhaps five hundredmiles from the homes of the unfortunate victims;

and the children thusobtained, deprived of all their relatives, are

never inquired after.Even should any of their kin be alive, they are

too far off and toopoor to institute inquiries. One of the members,

on being questioned,said the Megpunnas made more money than the other

Thugs; it was moreprofitable to kill poor people for the sake of their

children, thanrich people for their wealth. Megpunnaism is supposed by

its votariesto be, like Thuggee, under the immediate protection of the

greatgoddess Davee, or Kalee, whose favour is to be obtained before

thecommencement of every expedition, and whose omens, whether of good

orevil, are to be diligently sought on all occasions. The first

apostleto whom she communicated her commands for the formation of the

newsect, and the rules and ordinances by which it was to be guided,

wascalled Kheama Jemadar. He was considered so holy a man, that the

Thugsand Megpunnas considered it an extreme felicity to gaze upon and

touchhim. At the moment of his arrest by the British authorities, a

firewas raging in the village, and the inhabitants gathered round him

andimplored him to intercede with his god, that the flames might

beextinguished. The Megpunna, says the tradition, stretched forth

hishand to heaven, prayed, and the fire ceased immediately.There now

only remain to be considered the exertions that have beenmade to

remove from the face of India this purulent and disgustingsore. From

the year 1807 until 1826, the proceedings against Thuggeewere not

carried on with any extraordinary degree of vigour; but, inthe latter

year, the Government seems to have begun to act upon asettled

determination to destroy it altogether. From 1826 to 1855,both

included, there were committed to prison, in the variousPresidencies,

1562 persons accused of this crime. Of these, 328 werehanged; 999

transported; 77 imprisoned for life; 71 imprisoned forshorter

periods; 21 held to bail; and only 21 acquitted. Of theremainder, 31

died in prison, before they were brought to trial, 11escaped, and 49

turned approvers.One Feringeea, a Thug leader of great notoreity, was

delivered up tojustice in the year 1830, in consequence of the reward

of five hundredrupees offered for his apprehension by the Government.

He was broughtbefore Captain Sleeman, at Sangir, in the December of

that year, andoffered, if his life were spared, to give such

information as wouldlead to the arrest of several extensive gangs

which had carried ontheir murderous practices undetected for several

years. He mentionedthe place of rendezvous, for the following

February, of some wellorganized gangs, who were to proceed into

Guzerat and Candeish.Captain Sleeman appeared to doubt his

information; but accompanied theThug to a mango grove, two stages

from Sangir, on the road toSeronage. They reached this place in the

evening, and in the morningFeringeea pointed out three places in

which he and his gang had, atdifferent intervals, buried the bodies

of three parties of travellerswhom they had murdered. The sward had

grown over all the spots, andnot the slightest traces were to be seen

that it had ever beendisturbed. Under the sod of Captain Sleeman's

tent were found thebodies of the first party, consisting of a pundit

and his sixattendants, murdered in 1818. Another party of five,

murdered in 1824,were under the ground at the place where the

Captain's horses had beentied up for the night; and four Brahmin

carriers of the Ganges water,with a woman, were buried under his

sleeping tent. Before the groundwas moved, Captain Sleeman expressed

some doubts; but Feringeea, afterlooking at the position of some

neighbouring trees, said be would riskhis life on the accuracy of his

remembrance. The workmen dug five feetwithout discovering the bodies;

but they were at length found a littlebeyond that depth, exactly as

the Thug had described them. With thisproof of his knowledge of the

haunts of his brethren, Feringeea waspromised his liberty and pardon

if he would aid in bringing to justicethe many large gangs to which

he had belonged, and which were stillprowling over the country. They

were arrested in the Februaryfollowing, at the place of rendezvous

pointed out by the approver, andmost of them condemned and

executed.So far we learn from Captain Sleeman, who only brought down

his tablesto the close of the year 1835. A writer in the "Foreign

QuarterlyReview" furnishes an additional list of 241 persons,

committed toprison in 1836, for being concerned in the murder and

robbery of 474individuals. Of these criminals, 91 were sentenced to

death, and 22 toimprisonment for life, leaving 306, who were

sentenced totransportation for life, or shorter periods of

imprisonment, or whoturned approvers, or died in gaol. Not one of the

whole number wasacquitted.Great as is this amount of criminals who

have been brought to justice,it is to be feared that many years must

elapse before an evil sodeeply rooted can be eradicated. The

difficulty is increased by theutter hopelessness of reformation as

regards the survivors. Theirnumbers are still calculated to amount to

ten thousand persons, who,taking the average of three murders annually

for each, as calculatedby Captain Sleeman and other writers, murder

every year thirtythousand of their fellow creatures. This average is

said to be underthe mark; but even if we were to take it at only a

third of thiscalculation, what a frightful list it would be! When

religion teachesmen to go astray, they go far astray indeed!