[Methods of thieving.] 4. The Daleras will not thieve at night, and carry on their operations principally at fairs, bathing places, and the like. At such places a Dalera takes his seat near a pilgrim and pretends to cook. While his neighbour’s attention is occupied, the Dalera steals his vessels or other property. When he steals a brass pot, he goes into the water and with an iron spike he carries, makes holes in it, which prevent the possibility of identification. Sometimes they make a mock disturbance in a bâzâr, and in the confusion snatch articles from shops which they rapidly pass into the hands of a confederate. Or they go dressed as Thâkurs or Brâhmans and make a boy steal while they keep the shop-keeper engaged. If the lads are caught they never give their correct age or address. The thief gets a double share of the booty, and most of the gains are spent in drink. If a boy is arrested his well-dressed companions intercede for him. In their methods of crime they closely resemble those of the Barwârs and Sanaurhiyas. DISTRIBUTION OF THE DALERAS ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS OF 1891. ==========+======= Districts.|Number. ~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~ Bareilly | 2,009 Bijnor | 23 Morâdâbâd | 29 Pilibhît | 6 Gorakhpur | 1 Tarâi | 165 +~~~~~~~ Total | 2,233 ==========+======= Dângi. [276]—An agricultural tribe found chiefly in Jhânsi. The caste professes to derive its name from a certain Râja Dang, a Raghubansi Râjput, from whom they trace descent; but the word probably means no more than “hill-man” (Hindi, dang, “a hill”). They profess to be immigrants from a place called Nirver, in the Gwâlior State, with which, however, they appear to hold no connection by marriage or pilgrimage, selection of bards, priests, or barbers; and those at present resident in the Jhânsi District have come chiefly within comparatively recent times from the Datiya and Tîkamgarh States. They have nothing in the way of a genealogical tree or traditions connected with ancient sites or monuments which would throw any clear light on their origin; but there seems good reason to suspect that they may be connected with the Gond and similar races of the Central Indian plateau.