g on
information received,' he must search his dwelling for the missing
goods, and that his women's apartments will have to be ransacked, and
so annoys, goads, and insults the unfortunate man, that he is too glad
to purchase immunity from further insolence by making the policeman a
small present, perhaps a 'kid of the goats,' or something else. The
guardian of the peace is then regaled with the best food in the house,
after which he is 'wreathed with smiles.' If he sees a chance of a
farther bribe, he takes his departure saying he will make his report
to the _thanna_. He repeats his procedure with some of the other
respectable inhabitants, and goes back a good deal richer than he
came, to share the spoil with the _thannadar_ or inspector.

Another man may then be sent, and the same course is followed, until
all the force in the station have had their share. The ryot is afraid
to resist. The police have tremendous powers for annoying and doing
him harm. A crowd of subservient scoundrels always hangs round the
station, dependents, relations, or accomplices. These harry the poor
man who is unwise enough to resist the extortionate demands of the
police. They take his cattle to the pound, foment strife between him
and his neighbours, get up frivolous and false charges against him,
harass him in a thousand ways, and if all else fails, get him summoned
as a witness in some case. You might think a witness a person to be
treated with respect, to be attended to, to have every facility
offered him for giving his evidence at the least cost of time and
trouble possible, consistent with the demands of justice, and the
vindication of law and authority.

Not so in India with the witness in a police case, when the force
dislike him. If he has not previously satisfied their leech-like
rapacity, he is tormented, tortured, bullied, and kicked 'from pillar
to post,' till his life becomes a burden to him. He has to leave all
his avocations, perhaps at the time when his affairs require his
constant supervision. He has to trudge many a weary mile to attend the
Court. The police get hold of him, and keep him often in real durance.
He gets no opportunity for cooking or eating his food. His daily
habits are upset and interfered with. In every little vexatious way
(and they are masters of the art of petty torture) they so worry and
goad him, that the very threat of being summoned as a witness in a
police case, is often enough to make the horrifi