f they thought all was well they went nearer
and imitated the call of the partridge; and finally when close to the
encampment made a hissing noise like a snake. On arrival at the camp
they at once mounted their ponies and started off, marching fifty or
sixty miles a day, for two or three days.

6. Omens

The Sansias never committed a dacoity on moonlight nights, but had five
appointed days during the dark half of the month, the seventh, ninth,
eleventh, thirteenth and the night of the day on which the new moon
was first seen. If they did not meet with a favourable omen on any
of these nights, no dacoity was committed that month. The following
is a list of omens given by one of the caste: [614] "If we see a cat
when we are near the place where we intend to commit a dacoity, or we
hear the relations of a dead person lamenting, or hear a person sneeze
while cooking his meal, or see a dog run away with a portion of any
person's food, or a kite screams while sitting on a tree, or a woman
breaks the earthen vessel in which she may have been drawing water,
we consider the omens unfavourable. If a person drops his turban or
we meet a corpse, or the Jemadar has forgotten to put some bread into
his waistbelt, or any dacoit forgets his axe or spear or sees a snake
whether dead or alive; these omens are also considered unfavourable
and we do not commit the dacoity. Should we see a wolf and any one
of us have on a red turban, we take this and tear it into seven
pieces and hang each piece upon a separate tree. We then purchase a
rupee's worth of liquor and kill a goat, which is cut up into four
pieces. Four men pretend that they are wolves and rushing on the four
quarters of the meat seize them, imitating the howl of these animals,
while the rest of the dacoits pelt them with the entrails; the meat
is afterwards cooked and eaten in the name of Bhagwan."

It would appear that the explanation of this curious ceremony must
be that the Sansias thought the appearance of the wolf to be an
omen that one of them would furnish a meal for him. The turban
is venerated on account of its close association with the head, a
sacred part of the body among Hindus, and in this case it probably
served as a substituted offering for the head, while its red colour
represented blood; and the mimic rite of the goat being devoured
by men pretending to be wolves fulfilled the omen which portended
that the wolves would be provided with a meal, and henc