The Washington times., 1901-07-21
THE INVISIBLE INDIAN.
Wonderful Tricks Played by Native
Thieves I'm bombay

very interesting and valuable report
was issued several years ago by the in
spectort of prisons of the Indian Empire
In which almost incredible accounts are
given of the practice of this extraordinary
| art by the thieves of lower Bombay
The thieves themselves, with better rea-
son, feel doubly secure for if. In spite of
his invisibility, by some unlocked for and
unlucky chance. one is seized, his oily
body slips away like an cells and in the
still more unlikely contingency of his be-
ing held with on unbreakable grip, he
has slung by slender cord about his
neck a little knife with an edge as sharp
as that of the keenest razor, with which
he cuts the tendons of the intruding
wrist. This. however. he considers a last
resort. for he prides himself upon doing
his work without infiicting bodily harm
upon his victims.
To enter a Zenana, or the women'S
apartment in native house, where all
the family treasures are kept, Is the am
bition of every native thief. This is no
easy matter, for the zenana is the centre
of the house. surrounded by other apart
ment occupied by ever-wakeful sentinels
In order to reach it the thief burrows un-
der the house until his tunnel reaches a
which access is sought. But the cauti-
Gus native does not at o..ce enter. Full
well he knows that the inmates of the
house sometimes detect the miner at work
and stand over the hole, armed with dead
ly weapons. silently awaiting his appear
ance. He has with him a piece of bam-
boo, at one end of which a bunch of
grass represents human head, and this
he thrusts up through the completed
breach. If the vicarious head does not
come to grief, the real one takes its place,
and the thief, entering the zenana, Sc
cretes himself or. finding everything al
ready favorable for this purpose, pro-
ceeds to attempt what seems an impos-
sible undertaking.
This, indeed, is no less a task than to
remove from the ears and arms and noses
the earrings. bracelets, armlets, bangles,
and nose rings of the sleepers without
awaking them, and to get safely away
with his plunder. Who but dacoit would
be equal to SO delicate, dangerous, and
difficult piece of work? But the dacoit
seldom fails. These adroit burglars
says my authority. commit the most dar-
ing robberies in the midst of the English
army. Knowing the position of the tents,
they mark out one which is occupied by
an officer of high rank and creep silently
toward it. Arrived at the tent. their
sharp knife makes them a door in the
canvas, and they glide undiscovered into
the interior. Indeed, so wonderfully
adroit are they that even the very watch
dogs do not discover them, and thief
has been known to actually step over
dog without disturbing the animal
But the most marvelously clever device
af
bay is that used by the Mooches in throw
ing pursuers off their track. The Mooches
come down in gangs from the back coun-
try and raid the settlements, Their spe-
cialty is poisoning cattle. They smear
plantain leaves with their own particular
brand of cattle exterminator, and scatter
them about among the herds at night.
l n the morning as many of the cattle as
have partaken are dead, and have been
abandoned by their owners. The Mooches
hay the dead animals and sell their hides.
Pursued, these honest creatures make at
fuli speed for the jungle. If they reach it
all nope OF capturing them is al an end
but even when they discover that they
must be overtaken before they reach it
lhey Dy no means lose heart, and are
measurabiy sure of escaping. especially
II. as Is often the case in India. the sur
race Is burned over and Sle trees and
DusheS that have not been consumed are
.harred and blackened and bereft of their
AA"SN' "Aic many perhaps reduced TO lit |
lie more than blackened stumps by the
hre ry which the fields are annually |
burned.
II hard pressed in such a country as
ms they cease to fly, and Immediately |
ilSappear. For a long time the English |
troops which policed the districts where |
lney made their raids We're completely |
aonpiussed: again and again, on the very !
point of being captured, the Mooches es- |
,aped by miraculously vanishing and the |
officers as well as soldiers became super- |
;titious With the power of maintaining |
lXed, lmmovable postures. in which their |
race seems to excel, these Indians grasp |
ng In their hands such blackened |
branches as they pick up in their flight.
AN instantly assume and retain for |
ong time an almost perfect mimicrv of |
he groups of blackened stumps and half
burned, stunted trees with which the
abounds. In Abyssinia the Ra-
eas tribe have the same trick of becom-
ng invisible. added to which they place
heir rounded shields, that disposed In |
he grass look exactly like boulders. be-
ore them for screens. while they lie fiat.
unseen. for travellers to rob or
nemies to kill.-Penny Magazine