as to be perpetrated, torches were made from the turban of
one of the party, which was torn into three, five or seven pieces,
but never into more, the pieces being then soaked with butter. The
same man always supplied the turban and received in exchange the best
one taken in the robbery. Those who were unarmed collected bags of
stones, and these were thrown at any people who tried to interfere
with them during the dacoity. They carried firearms, but avoided
using them if possible, as their discharge might summon defenders
from a distance. They seldom killed or mutilated their victims,
except in a fight, but occasionally travellers were killed after
being robbed as a measure of precaution. They retreated with their
spoils as rapidly as possible to the nearest forest or hill, and from
there, after distributing the booty into bags to make it portable,
they marched off in a different direction from that in which they
had come. Before reaching their homes one of the party was deputed
with an offering of one, two or five rupees to be presented as an
offering to their god Khandoba or the goddess Bhawani in fulfilment of
a vow. All the spoil was then deposited before their Naik or headman,
who divided it into equal shares for members of the gang, keeping a
double share for himself.

3. Ramosis employed as village watchmen

In order to protect themselves from the depredations of these gangs
the villagers adopted a system of hiring a Ramosi as a surety to
be responsible for their property, and this man gradually became a
Rakhwaldar or village watchman. He received a grant of land rent-free
and other perquisites, and also a fee from all travellers and gangs of
traders who halted in the village in return for his protection during
the night. If a theft or house-breaking occurred in a village, the
Ramosi was held responsible to the owner for the value of the property,
unless a large gang had been engaged. If he failed to discover the
thief he engaged to make the lost property good to the owner within
fifteen days or a month unless its value was considerable. If a gang
had been engaged, the Ramosi, accompanied by the patel and other
village officials and cultivators, proceeded to track them by their
footprints. Obtaining a stick he cut it to the exact length of the
footprint, or several such if a number of prints could be discovered,
and followed the tracks, measuring the footprints, to the boundary
of the village. The inhabit