Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/759

 THUANUS THUGS T29 The brown thrush or thrasher is placed by Baird in the subfamily mimince (with the cat bird and mocking bird), and genus harporhyn- chus (Cab.). This bird (H. rufus, Cab., or T. rufus, Linn.) is 11J in. long and 13 in. in alar extent ; brownish red above ; below pale rufous white, thickly streaked with dark brown, and tinged anteriorly with reddish ; two white bands on the wings ; inner surface of wings and inner edge of primaries cinnamon; tail rufous. It is found over eastern North Amer- ica to the Missouri, and to the high central plains ; it is a constant resident in the southern states, and is almost as numerous as the robin ; it migrates by day, singly, with a low and heavy flight. The song is prolonged, loud, varied, and melodious. The eggs are four to six, dull pale buff, with numerous brown dots ; two broods are raised annually in the southern states ; it breeds well in aviaries, and the young are raised like mocking birds, singing well and very active in confinement. It is a bold and powerful bird, chasing cats, dogs, and foxes, not afraid of hawks and snakes, and savagely fighting with its rivals in breeding time ; both sexes incubate ; the food consists of insects, berries, and fruits of all kinds. The water thrush (seiurus Noveboracensis, Nutt. ; T. aqua- ticus, Wils.) is placed by the most recent or- nithologists in the family sylvicolidce or war- blers ; it is 6^ in. long and 9f in. in alar extent ; olive brown above with a green shade ; beneath pale sulphur yellow, brightest on the abdomen ; the other parts thickly streaked with olivace- ous brown, and blackish on the breast. It is found throughout the eastern United States to the Missouri and south to Central America. THUANUS. See THOU, JACQUES AUGUSTE DE. THUCYDIDES, a Greek historian, born in Ath- ens probably about 471 B. C., died about 400. He was the son of Olorus, and was probably connected with the family of Cimon. He tells us that he owned gold mines in Thrace, oppo- site Thasos. In 424 B. 0. he was the com- mander of an Athenian squadron of seven ships, and charged with the general authority on the coast of Thrace ; but as he failed to ar- rive in time to prevent the surrender of the important city of Amphipolis to the Spartan general Brasidas, he was condemned to exile, which continued 20 years. He spent much of this time in Thrace; but he must also have visited various parts of Greece, and it is cer- tain from his own writings that he frequent- ly visited the states under Lacedaemonian rule. He returned to Athens about the time the city was freed by Thrasybulus. The accounts of his death are uncertain. According to Pau- sanias, he was assassinated after his return; according to Plutarch, he was said to have been killed in Thrace, though his remains were car- ried to his native city. The work by which Thucydides is known is the history of the Pelo- ponnesian war, a work equally distinguished by truthfulness, historical insight, excellence of narration, and masterly arrangement of parts. The first edition was published by Al- dus at Venice in 1502. Of the numerous later editions, the best are those of J. Bekker (3 vols., Berlin, 1821), Haack (2 vols. 8vo, Leip- sic, 1820), Poppo (10 vols. 8vo, Leipsic, 1821- '38), Arnold (3 vols. 8vo, Oxford, 1830-'35), and Stahl's revised edition of Poppo (Leipsic, 1843-'75). There have been English versions by Nicolls (London, 1550), Hobbes, W. Smith (1753), Bloomfield (1829), Dale (1856), and Kichard Crawley (1874). THUGS (Hindi, thugna, to deceive), a sect of assassins in India, now exterminated by the British government. They roamed about the country in bands of from 30 to 300, and strangled to death such persons as they could decoy into their company. Their atrocious practices were not followed so much from im- pulses of plunder or malice as from religious motives. They were worshippers of the god- dess Kali, who presided over impure love, sensual indulgence, and death. The members of the sect belonged to different Hindoo castes, and each had its functions. ,The bands were under a junadar or sirdar, who was the lead- er, and a guru or teacher. Its members were classified into spies, who were learners ; stran- glers ; entrappers, who were sometimes wo- men; and grave diggers. They usually assumed the dress of merchants or pilgrims, and often craved the protection of those whom they in- tended to destroy. Their usual instrument of destruction was the handkerchief, with which by a dexterous movement they strangled their victims. The spies having informed the band of the route, habits, and circumstances of their intended victims, the members travelled in such lines as to be near one another, and the entrappers by artful management attracted them to a spot remote from dwellings, where the stranglers executed their office ; and hav- ing stripped them of whatever they possessed, the grave diggers buried them, with such pre- cautions as generally to prevent discovery. The plunder was divided, one third to the widows and orphans of the sect, one third to the goddess Kali, and the remainder to the partners in the assassination. After a murder the Thugs who had committed it united in a sort of sacrament, eating consecrated sugar. Their deities were carefully consulted before going on their expeditions, and unless the omens were favorable the Thug would not go. .Nei- ther women nor old men were victims. Eu- ropeans were never killed, as there would have been more danger of detection, There were also bands of Mohammedan Thugs, of the sect of Mooltanees, and it is possible that at first the system of thuggee originated with Moham- medan banditti, though it afterward became more a Hindoo than a Mohammedan practice, and the words used are of Sanskrit origin. Thugs were found in all parts of India. At- tempts were made to exterminate these bands of murderers in several of the native states, even prior to the present century ; but their