It must seem incredible, but it is nevertheless the simple fact, that this terrible system of murder flourished for nearly two centuries under those native governments of whose excellence so much has been said in certain quarters. The division of the vast peninsula into many separate, independent, and jealous states, no doubt, encouraged the perpetration of crime by facilitating escape and rendering detection and apprehension almost impossible. So long as their own subjects or tenants were not molested, neither princes nor landed proprietors considered themselves bound to interfere with an institution of which they entertained a mysterious dread, and whence they derived goodly gifts and a handsome revenue. Superstition and cupidity were powerful allies in favour of the Thugs, who, besides, in their palmy days, exhibited admirable prudence and tact in avoiding whatever might be offensive to their patrons and injurious to themselves. They were especially careful not to touch any European, for they well knew that from such they were more likely to receive lead than gold, and that search would be made for the missing man; nor, indeed, was the like facility afforded for familiarity, owing, in a great measure, as Fuseli would say, to "de d--d ignorance of de language." All tell-tale property they quickly destroyed, and never committed a murder near home, or where they were known; nor after a murder did they ever proceed in the direction whence their victims had come, lest they should be betrayed by a horse, a bullock, or an ass, being anywhere recognised. The native custom of sending remittances in the form of jewels and precious metals without any armed escort, and of carrying considerable sums upon the person, increased the temptation of doing honour to Bhowanee. The vast population, too, was always in motion. Parties of travellers, or lonely wanderers, on foot, or on horseback, streamed along the roads and bye-paths, reposing in the intense heat of the day or during the moonless hours of the night beneath the hospitable shade of a grove of mangoes and other stately trees, or around the well that owed its origin to pious vanity. And the very terror felt for their unknown enemies made the travellers an easier prey, for in seeking to avoid the danger, they frequently ran into it by inviting the company of the mild, cheerful and intelligent companions, who were ever ready to converse with them, to walk with them, and--to murder them. Their existence was first known to the English in 1799, after the fall of Seringapatam, when a hundred Phanseegars, or Thugs, were taken prisoners at Bangalore, though even then they were not suspected of pursuing an hereditary profession. The first regular information concerning their habits was not obtained until 1807, when a gang of them was arrested between Chittore and Arcot. It had frequently been remarked, indeed, that very many sepoys never returned to their regiments on the expiration of their leave of