of Jhansee, before he would surrender some eight or ten villains who had thrown themselves on his protection. And the Maharajah of Gwalior was obliged to send two guns and a small army against the Zemindar, or "laird," of Bahmanpora, to make him give up some Thugs whom he patronised; the firing lasted for some hours, and several lives were lost on both sides. Even those who affected to punish the miscreants, seldom touched their persons except to extort from them their ill-got treasures. They would seize one or two of the youngest, tie them up, and flog them till they confessed, or until the gang, in pity for their sufferings, pledged themselves to make up a certain sum, leaving two or three of their number as hostages. They were then released, and allowed to pursue their profession as before. In the year 1812, soon after the murder of Lieutenant Monsell, a number of Thugs were arrested by certain Zemindars and grievously beaten, in the hope of making them bid high for their release. Their excessive cupidity, however, defeated its own ends. During their thirteen months imprisonment, forty of the Thugs perished from the dampness of their dungeon, combined with the ill-treatment they endured. The survivors insisted that their comrades were tortured to death by a demon, who entered the prison every night during the wet season. "I saw him," said one of them, "only once myself. I was awake while all the rest were asleep; he came in at the door, and seemed to swell as he came in till his head touched the roof, and the roof was very high, and his bulk became enormous. I prostrated myself, and told him that 'he was our Purmesur (great God), and we poor helpless mortals depending entirely upon his will.' This pleased him, and he passed by me; but took such a grasp at the man Mungulee, who slept by my side, that he was seized with spasms all over, from the nape of the neck to the sole of his foot." Of the Zemindars, who caused this atrocious suffering, he added, "not a soul of their families is now left to pour the libation at their funeral obsequies." How like is this to the glorious old Grecian idea of the avenging Nemesis! In truth, this was the only sort of justice administered in India during the supremacy of its native rulers--the golden age, according to the gentlemen of the Manchester school. The Thugs made use of a peculiar dialect, called Ramasee, which was understood by the members of the fraternity throughout Hindostan, at Mooltan as at Arcot. The signification of the word Thug itself is "a deceiver;" they were likewise called Phanseegars, from the Hindostanee word Phansee, "a handkerchief." One Thug could always recognise another by his salutation _Aulae Khan, Salam_, if addressed to a Mussulmaun; or _Aulae Bhae, Ram, Ram_, if addressed to a Hindoo, equivalent to "Peace be with thee, friend!" A few specimens of their phraseology, selected from Captain Sleeman's Thug vocabulary, may be not altogether devoid of interest.