rder to the
Buttoat, strangler, who takes the _rumal_ (yard of cotton)
with a knot tied in the left end, and, holding his right
hand a few inches further up, passes it from behind over the
victim's head. As the latter falls the strangler's hands are
crossed, and if done properly the Thugs say that "the eyes
stand out of the head and life becomes extinct, before the
body falls to the ground" (Notes on the 'Thags, Thugs, or
Thegs,' by Lieutenant Reynolds; of whom Lieutenant-Colonel
Smythe says that he knew more than any other European about
the Thugs, 1836). The Buttoat received eight annas extra for
his share. Each actor in the scene had a title; the victim
was called Rosy. For their argot see the R[=a]maseeana.]

[Footnote 55: Thugs (defined as 'knaves' by Sherwood, more
probably 'throttlers') must be distinguished from Decoits.
The latter (Elphinstone, i. 384) are irreligious gangs,
secretly bound together to sack villages. Peaceable citizens
by day, the Decoits rise at night, attack a village, slay,
torture, rob, and disappear before morning, 'melting into
the population' and resuming honest toil. When the police
are weak enough they may remain banded together; otherwise
they are ephemerally honest and nocturnally assassins. The
Thugs or Ph[=a]ns[=i]gars (_ph[=a]ns[=i]_, noose) killed no
women, invoked K[=a]li (as Jay[=i]), and attacked
individuals only, whom the decoys, called Tillais, lured
very cleverly to destruction. They never robbed without
strangling first, and always buried the victim. They used to
send a good deal of what they got to K[=a]li's temple, in a
village near Mirz[=a]pur, where the establishment of priests
was entirely supported by them. K[=a]li (or Bhav[=a]n[=i])
herself directed that victims should be strangled, not bled
(so the Thug legend). Their symbol was a pick, emblem of the
goddess, unto whom a religious ceremony was performed before
and after the murder was committed. Local small bankers
often acted as fence for them.]

[Footnote 56: This is called either
P[=u]rva-m[=i]m[=a]ms[=a] (Karma-m[=i]m[=a]ms[=a]) or simply
M[=i]m[=a]ms[=a].]

[Footnote 57: Or C[=a]r[=i]raka-m[=i]m[=a]msa, or
Brahma-m[=i]m[=a]ms[=a] (_m[=i]m[=a][=m.]sa,_ reflexion,
philosophy).]

[Footnote 58: Kapila's sy