Among men of such a stamp, leading a half-savage existence, with ideas necessarily limited to their own range of thought, it is likely that a strange sort of morality should prevail. We have already seen that there is one existing system in which treacherous murder, instead of being regarded as a capital offence, is exalted into a religion, and we may therefore expect that robbery may in some cases be considered as a virtue. Certain it is that there are no more accomplished thieves in the world than those of India.
The natives are justly celebrated for their wonderful powers of posture making and conjuring, and it is to be expected that, when they turn those powers to an evil use, they must be most dangerous opponents. Lately a most valuable report has been issued by the Inspector-General of Prisons, relating to the thieves of Lower Bombay, in the perusal of which it is impossible to restrain a smile, so wonderfully ingenious are the devices of the thieves, and so astonishing is the skill with which they are employed.
For example, there are the regular burglars, who completely carry out the description of the Scriptures, “breaking through the wall and stealing.” Two of these burglars work together. One acts as sentinel, while the other gently bores a hole through the wall, large enough to admit the passage of his person. When he has completed the breach, he pushes through it a stick, with a piece of grass wrapped round it, so as to look like a human head. This is done to ascertain whether the inmates are alarmed, for it sometimes happens that the owner of the house hears the miner at work, and quietly stands by the side of the hole, armed with a sword or cudgel, with which he strikes at the head of the robber, as soon as it appears through the wall. Should the sham head be smashed by a blow from the inside, the thieves escape as fast as they can. If not, one of them crawls through the breach, steals all the property on which he can lay his hands, and returns to his comrade, who has been keeping careful watch, and will alarm him, should danger appear.
Other thieves appear to be more harmless, though they probably steal as much money as the burglars. They carry in their mouths a tiny knife, with a blade as sharp as that of a razor. They frequent the bazaars, mix with the crowd, and contrive to feel for the money which is wrapped up in the girdle. With their little knives, they gently cut the cloth, noiselessly extract the money, and slink off into the midst of the crowd, where they can scarcely be detected. In short, they act precisely after the manner of our European cut-purses.
The most ingenious of all the thieves are those who get into the zenanas, or women’s apartments, and steal their jewelry. As the reader is probably aware, the women’s apartments are in the most central portion of the house, and are so carefully guarded that little precaution is taken with respect to the costly jewels with which the women deck themselves so abundantly. The Indian burglar knows of this wealth, and sometimes manages to steal it. He digs a hole in the ground outside the walls of the house, and burrows under the foundation until he comes beneath the floor of the zenana. He then cautiously works his way upward, and so obtains admission into the apartment. But even when there his task is not completed, as a large portion of the jewelry consists of nose rings and bangles, or bracelets. The skill of these thieves is now shown, for they will contrive to cut the rings and bangles, remove them from the wearers, and make good their escape without disturbing the sleeping women.
These adroit burglars often commit the most daring robberies in the very midst of an army. Knowing the position of the tents, they mark out that which is the residence of a great man, and creep silently toward it. Arrived at the tent, their sharp knife cuts a hole and they glide into the interior without making the slightest noise. Indeed, so wonderfully adroit are they, that even the very watch-dogs do not discover them, and a thief has been known actually to step over the body of a dog without disturbing the animal. They take an extraordinary pride in their skill, and have not the least objection to boasting of it. Once, an English officer, who had been robbed of all his valuables, his clothing included, in the course of a night, was talking to a robber, who made very light of the exploit, and boasted that if he chose he could steal the blanket from under him as he slept. Such a challenge as this could not but be accepted, and the officer laid a wager with the man that his blanket could not be stolen without arousing him.
Accordingly, one morning, when the officer awoke, he found his blanket missing. The thief came openly with the blanket, restored it, and told him how he had achieved the theft. It was done by gently tickling the face and hands of the sleeping man, so that he involuntarily turned on his bed. As he moved, the thief gave the blanket a slight pull, and so by degrees “coaxed” it away without fairly awaking the sleeper.
When these thieves set about their task of robbery, they remove all their clothes, and rub themselves with oil. Round their neck is a slight string, which holds their razor-bladed knife, so that, if they should be detected, the pursuer has no hold of them; and even should he succeed in grasping them, the ready knife is used to sever his wrist and to deal a fatal stab.
Then there are other thieves of altogether a sneaking and despicable character. The burglars have, at all events, the redeeming points of audacity and ingenuity. The Mooches exhibit neither of these qualities, but act in a way that exactly resembles the proceedings of the gipsy thieves as described by Mr. Borrow. They lay poison on plantain leaves, and drop them about at night among the cattle. The bait is sure to be taken, and the dead cattle are thrown away next morning. This is exactly what the Mooches have expected, and they flay the dead cattle and sell their skins.
Sometimes a band of these thieves is pursued, and then the robbers are often driven to use all their ingenuity in evading their pursuers. One stratagem is marvellously clever. Should a company of these men succeed in reaching the jungle, there is no hope of capturing them; but when they find that they must be overtaken on a level plain, they are not without a mode of avoiding detection. As is the case in many hot countries, the ground is often cleared by fire, which destroys all the coarse, dry, rank herbage, and leaves it free for the fresh green blades that at the first rains shoot through the surface. In those spots where the grass is short, the fire does but little damage; but where it is long, the flames are powerful enough to destroy the small trees which grow upon them, and to leave nothing but a number of blackened stumps.