at their goddess looks on with approval. Yet
even the most hardened among them is capable of the greatest chivalry
when women are concerned, and a rigorous inquiry into the details of
thousands of their crimes has failed to reveal any single attempt at
violation. A Thug returning from one of his ritualistic expeditions
may show himself to be a good and affectionate husband and father, and
a charitable neighbour. Apart from numerous acts of assassination, on
which he prides himself, his conduct is usually irreproachable. No
wonder that he fills the English magistrates with stupefaction, and
that justice does not always dare to strike when it can act more
effectively by persuasion or seclusion.

All things evolve with the passage of time, and in the twentieth
century even the rite of strangulation has undergone changes. From the
main sect of Thuggee, other branches of a new and unlooked-for type
have sprung. These, instead of strangling their neighbours, prefer to
poison them, the virtue being the same and the method easier and more
expeditious. Their proceedings, though more difficult to control, are
quite as lucrative for Kali, the devourer of human life, and if they
have made their goddess less notorious than did the Thugs, they
certainly worship her with equal ardour.

CHAPTER III

THE REINCARNATIONIST'S PARADISE

Amid luxuriant vegetation, in an enchanting position overlooking the
Pacific Ocean, flourishes the religion of reincarnation "without
beginning and without end." Its followers, gathered there from all
parts of the world, steep themselves in the atmosphere of fraternal
love and general benevolence which is exhaled by this doctrine of the
evolution of souls, leading to ultimate perfection.

The scenes which greet the dazzled eyes of the visitor are of such
extreme beauty that he might well believe himself to have been
miraculously transported to ancient Hellas. Greek theatres and temples
gleam whitely in the shade of majestic palm-trees, and groups of young
people dressed like the youths and maidens of ancient Athens may be
seen taking part in rhythmic dances and elaborate processions.

Amid the dirt and chaos of our modern world this Grecian city seems to
have sprung up as by a miracle, fully reconstituted not only in its
outer appearance but also in its inner life of harmony and peace.
Theosophists of every degree, who in other lands seem so often to lose
themselves in a mist of vague d