educated worshippers say they allow
themselves to believe their goddess is fond of human sacrifices, only on
the strength of the fact that earth is fond of organical decomposition,
which fertilizes her, and helps her to call forth new forces from the
ashes of the dead. The Shivaites, when burning their dead, put an idol
of Shiva at the head of the corpse; but when beginning to scatter the
ashes in the elements, they invoke Bhavani, in order that the goddess
may receive the purified remains, and develop in them germs of new life.
But what truth could bear the coarse touch of superstitious ignorance
without being disfigured!

The murdering Thugs laid their hands on this great philosophic emblem,
and, having understood that the goddess loves human sacrifice, but hates
useless blood-shed, they resolved to please her doubly: to kill, but
never to soil their hands by the blood of their victims. The result of
it was the knighthood of the rumal.

One day we visited a very aged ex-Thug. In his young days he was
transported to the Andaman Islands, but, owing to his sincere
repentance, and to some services he had rendered to the Government,
he was afterwards pardoned. Having returned to his native village, he
settled down to earn his living by weaving ropes, a profession probably
suggested to him by some sweet reminiscences of the achievements of his
youth. He initiated us first into the mysteries of theoretic Thugism,
and then extended his hospitality by a ready offer to show us the
practical side of it, if we agreed to pay for a sheep. He said he would
gladly show us how easy it was to send a living being ad patres in less
than three seconds; the whole secret consisting in some skillful and
swift movements of the righthand finger joints.

We refused to buy the sheep for this old brigand, but we gave him
some money. To show his gratitude he offered to demonstrate all the
preliminary sensation of the rumal on any English or American neck that
was willing. Of course, he said he would omit the final twist. But still
none of us were willing; and the gratitude of the repentant criminal
found issue in great volubility.

The owl is sacred to Bhavani Kali, and as soon as a band of Thugs,
awaiting their victims, had been signalled by the conventional hooting,
each of the travelers, let them be twenty and more, had a Thug behind
his shoulders. One second more, and the rumal was on the neck of the
victim, the well-trained iron fingers o