Page:Wanderings of a Pilgrim Vol 1.djvu/188

 Like the patriarchs of old we travelled with our flocks and herds, or, rather, we sent them on in advance, and followed dāk.

March 27th.—We quitted Allahabad, and drove the first stage to Allumchund, where we were kindly received by friends. At this place I first remarked the mowa-tree (bassia longifolia). The fruit was falling, and the natives were collecting it to make bazār srāb (ardent spirits). The fruit, which is white, only falls during the day-time; when dried, it is given to cows as cheap food—from it the butter takes a fine yellow colour.

In the evening we proceeded dāk, and arrived the next morning at the house of the judge of Futtehpore. Just before entering his compound, (grounds around a house,) I stopped my palanquin, and desired a bearer to draw me a lota full of water from a well at the road side. The man took the brass vessel, which was fastened to a very long string, and threw it into the well; then drawing it up, he poured the contents on the ground, saying, "A thuggee has been committed, you cannot drink that water. Did you not hear the lota—bump—bump upon a dead body in the well ?" I reported the circumstance on my arrival, and not having before heard of the Thugs, was very much interested in the following account of "The Confessions of a Thug."

These fellows, it appears, roam about the country in gangs, strangling people for their money; it is their only employment. During the three weeks of my stay at Futtehpore, the bodies of three men were found in the neighbouring wells—thugged, that is, strangled. Some years ago the Thugs were in great force, but they were well looked after by the police, and a thuggee was seldom committed: within a few months they have become very daring, especially around Cawnpore, Humeerpore, and Futtehpore.

A KUTCHERRY OR KACHAHRĪ.

The sketch represents the examination of a criminal before the judge of the station, who is taking notes. The fat moonshee