In every gang of Thugs are to be found one or more officers, who appear to hold that rank not by the choice of their followers, but in consequence of their wealth and influence in their respective villages, and having assembled their immediate followers in the vicinity of their homes. The profits of an officer are of course greater than those of his followers; he receives six and a half or seven per cent. on all silver coin and other property, and then shares in the remainder in common with the other Thugs of the party. When gold is obtained in coin or in mass, the tenth part is taken by the officer, previous to dividing it; and he has a tithe of all pearls, shawls, gold embroidered cloths, brass and copper pots, horses, &c. Next to the officer, the most important person is the _bhuttoat_, or strangler, who carries the handkerchief with which the Thugs usually murder their victims. This implement is merely a piece of fine strong cotton cloth, about a yard long; at one end a knot is tied, and the cloth is slightly twisted, and kept ready for use in front of the waistcoat of the person carrying it. There is no doubt but that all Thugs are expert in the use of the handkerchief; but if they are to be believed, only particular persons are called upon or permitted to perform this office. When a large gang is collected, the most able-bodied and alert of their number are fixed upon as stranglers, and they are made the bearers of the handkerchief only after the performance of various and often expensive ceremonies, and only on the observance of a favourable omen. The junior Thugs make a merit of attending upon the older and more experienced Thugs, shampooing their bodies, and performing the most menial offices. They gradually become initiated into all the mysteries of the art, and if they prove to be powerful men, these promising disciples are made stranglers. When a murder is to be committed, the strangler usually follows the particular person whom he has been nominated by the jemadar to strangle; and on the preconcerted signal being given, the handkerchief is seized with the knot in the _left hand_, the right hand being about nine inches farther up, in which manner it is thrown over the head of the person to be strangled from behind; the two hands are crossed as the victim falls; and such is the certainty with which the deed is done, as the Thugs frequently declare, that before the body falls to the ground, the eyes start out of the head, and life becomes extinct. Should the person to be strangled prove a powerful man, or the strangler inexpert, another Thug lays hold of the end of the handkerchief, and the work is completed. The perfection of the act is said to be, when several persons are simultaneously murdered without any of them having time to utter a cry, or to be aware of the fate of their comrades.