818 



T II ET FOR I) -THUGS. 



all the deposits above tlie chalk have obtained 

 this name, us being of subsequent and distinct for- 

 mation. Along with the remains of extinct ani- 

 mals, they also contain those of existing species, 

 and are supposed to he of various ages, and conse- 

 quently of various periods of deposition. The 

 London clay, and Purls basin are ranked as the 

 oldest, and here the remains of mammalia are 

 abundant. Besides being found in various parts of 

 Europe, tertiary deposits have also been discovered 

 in Asia and America. See Paris Basin. 



THETFORD; an ancient borough of England, 

 situated partly in Norfolk and partly in Suffolk, 

 eighty miles N.N.E. from London. It takes its 

 n. tine from the river Thet, which here joins the 

 r Ouse ; the latter passing through the town 

 separates the two counties, and is navigable to 

 LMIII. The town is connected with the houses on 

 the Suffolk side of the river by a handsome iron 

 bridge, erected in 18'29. The inhabitants derive 

 their chief employment from an extensive paper- 

 mill, a large iron-foundry, an agricultural machine 

 manufactory, several breweries, and malting esta- 

 blishments; a good trade is also carried on in corn, 

 wool, and other articles. 



In the reign of Edward III. Thetford contained 

 twenty-four principal streets, five market-places, 

 twenty churches, eight monasteries, and six hospi- 

 tals, besides other religious and charitable founda- 

 tions; but of these, only the names of some re- 

 main, and of others a few dilapidated walls serve to 

 mark the sites. Thomas Martin, F.A.S. author of 

 a history of Thetford, was born here in 1696; and 

 Thomas Paine, author of the Rights of Man, was 

 also a native of this town, and educated at the 

 free-school. Population in 1841, 4040. 



THIRSK ; a town in the north riding of York- 

 shire, 217 miles N.N.W. from London. It is di- 

 vided into two parts, called Old and New Thirsk, 

 by the small river Codbeck, which is crossed by 

 two substantial stone bridges. New Thirsk, with 

 a commodious market-place in the centre, occupies 

 the site of a strong and extensive castle, erected 

 about 979, by the ancient family of Mowbray ; in 

 the reign of Henry II., Roger de Mowbray, hav- 

 ing become a confederate of the king of Scotland, 

 here erected his standard against his lawful sove- 

 reign. On the suppression of that revolt, this 

 fortress, with many others, was entirely demolished 

 by order of the king; the moat and ramparts are 

 still visible, but no vestige of the building remains. 

 Old Thirek stands on the nortb-east side of the 

 river, and consists of a long range of cottages on 

 each side of the road. The inhabitants are chiefly 

 employed in the manufacture of coarse linens and 

 sacking. Population in 1841 ; of borough and 

 town, 3020 ; of parish, 4599. 



THUGS, (a.) In the body of the work, we ad- 

 verted to a fraternity in India, called Thugs or 

 Phansigars, who are united by religious or super- 

 stitious rites, and who mainly subsist by strangling 

 and plundering travellers. Although this extra- 

 ordinary sect of miscreants has long existed, it is 

 only within these few years that any satisfactory 

 knowledge regarding them has been obtained. An 

 article in the Edinburgh Review for Jan. 1837, 

 was the first to draw public attention towards 

 them in this country, and from that article we shall 

 take the liberty of extracting a summary of their 

 history. 



The Thugs travel along the roads under various 

 assumed characters, in parties varying from ten or 



twelve to several hundreds. They appear as traders, 

 as pilgrims, as sepoys seeking or returning from 

 service ; and sometimes one of their number figures 

 a- a Kaja, with all the necessary equipments of 

 tents, carriage, &c., and the rest act the part of hid 

 obsequious followers. If the gang is numerous, 

 they are divided into separate parties, who follow 

 each other at some distance, or, taking different 

 routes, rendezvous at an appointed place in ad- 

 vance. Their victims are almost always tiavelle.rs. 

 The most expert members of the gang are em- 

 ployed to collect information, and insinuate them- 

 selves into the confidence of the travellers whom 

 they find at the resting places, or overtake on the 

 road. They usually propose to them to join com- 

 pany for mutual safety ; arid if the traveller sus- 

 pects one party, he soon falls in with another, who 

 pretend to enter into his feelings of distrust. A 

 person is sent before to select a proper place for 

 the murder, and scouts are employed to prevent 

 intrusion. The travellers are generally induced to 

 sit down under pretence of resting themselves, and 

 they are strangled at once on a given signal. The 

 bodies are then buried, after having been mangled 

 to expedite dissolution, and to prevent their swel- 

 ling and causing cracks in the ground. Two Thugs 

 are employed in the murder of each individual, one 

 of whom holds his legs or hands, while the other 

 applies the noose. If a traveller have a dog, 

 it is also killed, lest the faithful animal should 

 cause the discovery of the body of its murdered 

 in ster. 



In Bengal, which is much intersected by rivers, 

 the plan is modified to suit the circumstances of 

 the country. The practice there is to inveigle 

 travellers on board pretended passage-boats, which 

 are manned entirely by Thugs, and then to strangle 

 them and throw the bodies into the river. Several 

 of these boats follow each other at short intervals, 

 so that if the traveller escapes one snare, he may 

 fall into another. 



The Thugs are forbidden by their rules to kill 

 women of any description, and either men or 

 women of the following classes fukeers, bards, 

 musicians by profession, dancing men or women, 

 washerwomen, svveepers, oil-venders, blacksmiths, 

 and carpenters, when found together, maimed or 

 leprous persons, men with cows, and Ganges water- 

 carriers, while they have the Ganges water actual- 

 ly with them ; but if their pots are empty they are 

 not exempted. These exceptions, however, are 

 not made, as has been supposed, out of compas- 

 sion, but from a feeling which we shall explain 

 hereafter, and which is the strangest part of this 

 strange system. The Thugs date all their misfor- 

 tunes from their murder of a native lady, whom 

 they call the Kalee Beebee, or black lady, who 

 was proceeding to Hyderabad with a sheet of cloth 

 of gold, for the tomb of a brother of Sulabut Khan. 

 Since that, the northern Thugs have murdered 

 women as well as men ; but those south of the 

 Nerbudda adhere to their primitive usage in this 

 respect. 



The extent to which the natural feelings of 

 humanity have been extinguished in these mis- 

 creants, is perfectly astonishing. A party of them 

 accompanied Newal Singh, a Jemadar in the 

 Nizam's service, and his family, more than two 

 hundred miles, were on the most intimate tern:s 

 with them for about twenty days, and receive: 

 essential favours from them. Once Newal Singh, 

 not knowing them to be Thugs, procured their 



