that they themselves must be responsible for concealing
their deeds from the eyes of men. Thus, after having worshipped her
with impunity for centuries, the Thugs all at once found themselves
exposed to the suspicions of their fellow-countrymen, and above all, of
the British Government. Captain Sleeman played the part of their evil
genius, for in his anger at their abominable deeds he decided, in spite
of the resistance offered by the heads of the East India Company, to
wage war to the knife against the religion of Kali. Such alarming
reports were received in England that at last the home authorities were
aroused, and in 1830 a special official was appointed to direct
operations (the General Superintendent of Operations against Thuggee).
Captain Sleeman was chosen to fill the appointment, and he dedicated to
it all his courage and practically his whole life. The tale of the
twenty years' struggle that followed would put the most thrilling
dramas of fiction in the shade.

In the works founded on Captain Sleeman's reports, and above all in his
own official documents, are found remarkable accounts of the ways in
which the Thugs lured their victims to their doom.

A Mongol officer of noble bearing was travelling to the province of
Oudh accompanied by two faithful servants. He halted on his way near
the Ganges, and was there accosted by a group of men, polite in speech
and respectable in appearance, who asked permission to finish their
journey under his protection. The officer refused angrily and begged
them to let him go on his way alone. The strangers tried to persuade
him that his suspicions were unjust, but, seeing his nostrils inflate
and his eyes gleam with rage, they finally desisted. The next day he
met another group of travellers, dressed in Moslem fashion, who spoke
to him of the danger of travelling alone and begged him to accept their
escort. Once more the officer's eyes flashed with rage; he threatened
them with his sword, and was left to proceed in peace. Many times
again the brave Mongol, always on his guard, succeeded in thwarting the
designs of his mysterious fellow-travellers, but on the fourth day he
reached a barren plain where, a few steps from the track, six Moslems
were weeping over the body of one who had succumbed to the hardships of
the journey. They had already dug a hole in the earth to inter the
corpse, when it was discovered that not one of them could read the
Koran. On their knees