I myself have employed them successfully on several occasions. As a rule, thefts by domestics of anything _valuable_ are very rare, though pilfering goes on a good deal, for the Persian servant looks on his master’s tea, sugar, and grain as lawful plunder; when things are taken, it is usually done by a servant merely in the hope of getting a rival into trouble, and an edict that the servants will have to pay a little more than the value of the lost property is enough to bring it back; it is impossible to detect under these circumstances the abstractor. But if a _thief_ is really among the household, the servants as a rule find him out and clamour for his discharge. Such an event happened when my best pipe-head suddenly disappeared. I sent for the rammal, and after various mysterious ceremonies unsuccessfully gone through, the man retired promising me my property before noon the next day. Next morning one of my men calmly informed me that he had seen the prophet Mahommed in a dream, who addressed him thus— “‘Hadji, my son, are you well?’ “‘Alas! no, holy prophet; I am in deep grief, my heart is burnt up with misery.’ “‘Why is this, son Hadji?’ “‘My master has lost a pipe-head, O prophet, and I—I, the innocent Hadji—may be suspected; the hearts of all the servants are tightened (idiom) by this sad fear.’ “‘Be not afraid, son Hadji; if you look at the top left-hand corner of your master’s tank, you will find it.’ “I swooned away with delight, sahib, and am only waiting your permission to make a search.” I smiled, and of course there they found my pipe-head. As I knew theft was not intended, I said nothing, but I did not reward the vision-seeing finder.