The times., 1901-06-16
THIEVES OF THE ORIENT.
Peculiar Arts Possessed hy Crimi-
nails in Lower bombay.
From the New Penny Magazine)

| (From the New Penny NaGazine)
\ very interesting and valuable report
was issued several years ago bN the IN
/ SpectDT OF prisons of the Indian Empire
/ in which almost incredible accounts are
| given of the practice OF this eEtr2prdlnaIy
art by the thieves of lower Bombay The
/ thieves themselves. with better reason,
1 feel doubly secure, for If, in spite OF ms
/ nViSibIity, by some unlocked for and un-
Z lucky chance, one is seized, his oily pody
slips away like an eeIs; and in the stu!
more unlikely contingency of his being
/ held with an uubreakable grip, he has,
SiunE by a slender cord about his neck, q
! little knit, with edge as sharp as that
! of tn. kcCncst razor, with which he cuts
the tendoEs of the intrudlHS wrist Ihls,
[ however. he considers last resort for
/ ne prldeS himself upon doing his work
without inticting bodily harm upon his
victims.
To enter q zenaua or the women's
! apartment in native house, where all
the family treasures are Kept, Is the am
bition Of every native tn. #. This 5 no
easy matter, for the zena a IS IN the cen
TIRE OF the house, surrounded by other
apartments occupied by ever wakcful
senuiuels. In order to reach it, the thief
! burrows under the house until his tunnel
reaches a point beneath the floor of the
room TO which access is sought. But the
cautious native does not at once enter
! Full well he knows that the inmates OF
/ the house sometimes detect the miner at
work and stand over the hole. armN
with deadly weapons. silently awaiting
/ his appearance. He has with him piece
/ of bamboo, at one end Of which a bunch
/ oi grass represents a human head, and
| this he thrusts up through the completed
breach. II the yiCariOus head does not
come 10 grief the real one takes its place,
and the thief, entering the Zcnara. secrets
/ himself OF, finding everything already
! favorable for his purpose proceeds to at
( tempt what seems an impossible under
taking.
This. indeed. is no less a task than to
remove from the ears and arms and noses
the earrings, bracelets. armiets. bangles
and nose rings of the sleepers without
aN&kehlhS them, and TO get safely away
with his punder. Who but a dacoit would
/ be equal to so delicate, dangerous and
difficult a piece Of work. But the dacoit
seldom fails These adToit burglars,
says ny authority, commit the most dar-
ing Tobberies in the midst OF the English
army knowing the position Of the tents
they mark uu: one which Is occupied by
an officer Of high rank. and creep silently
toward It. Arrived at the tent, their
sharp knife makes them q door in the
canNa as, and they glide undiscovered into
the interior indeed, so wonderfully
adroit aIe they that even the very watch
dogs do not discover them. and a thief
has been known to actually step over
dog without disturbing the animal"
But the most marvelouS.y clever de-
vice practiced by the thieves of lower
Bombay is that used by the MoOches in
throwing puTSuCTS of their track. The
{ MOOches come down in gangs from the
I back country and raid the settlements.
Their specially is poisoning cattle They
Q
particular brand Of cattle eXterminator
End scatter them about among the herds
at night. In the morning. as many Of the
/ cattle as have partaken are dead and
I have been abandoned by their owners.
The Mooches fay the dead animals and
sell their hides Pursued these honest
creatures make at full speed for the jun
gle. If they reach IL. all hope Of captuT-
ing them Is at an end. but even when they
discover that they must be oyertaken
before they reach il they 10y no means
lose heart. and are measure Dly sure Of
escaping, especially. as is very often the
case in India, the surface Is burned over
and the trees and bushes that have not
been consumed are charred and blacken-
cd and bereft Of their foliage, and many
pefhaps reduced TO little more than black
ened stumps by the fire by which the
fields are annually burned over
il hard pressed in such a country as
this they cease TO fly, and Immediately
disappear For long time the English
troops which policed the districts where
nanplUsed again and again, on the very
point Of being captured, the MoOChcs es-
capped by miraculOusly vanishing, and Of
nceTs as well as soldiers became super
stitious. With the power Of maintaining
Z fixed. immOyable pDStures. in which their
race seems 10 excel. these Indians, grasp
ing in their hands such blackened
branches as they pick up IN their flight,
can instantly assume and retain for
long time an almost perfect mimiCry OF
the gOups Of blackend stumps and half
burned, stunted trees with which the
country abounds. In Abyssiuia the Ia-
Tgas tribe have the same trick Of beCOm-
ing invisible, added to which they place
their rounded shields. that disposed iu the
grass look exactly like b0wlders before
watching. unseen. for travellers TO rob or
enemies 10 XIII