38 BANDITTI. 



yet I could not comprehend a word they said ; but 

 the Harcarrah told me that they were debating 

 whether or not they should plunder my tent : they 

 remained near us a considerable time, and then 

 went off in a direction towards it. Very soon 

 after, we saw the village of Pindar choon in 

 flames. 



At day-light we quitted our hiding place, and, 

 to my great joy when I returned to the tent, I 

 found every thing safe, without a soul having been 

 disturbed. The thieves set fire to the village, and 

 plundered it of all the carriage-bullocks they 

 found, which they loaded with every thing they 

 could lay their hands on ; the whole was not of 

 much value, the village being small, and the 

 people who lived in it poor. 



Whenever a number of thieves enter a village 

 for plunder, it is termed dakka; the very sound 

 of the word will drive all the inhabitants, men, 

 women and children, from their village, leaving 

 the thieves in quiet possession to ransack it at 

 their will. It seldom happens, in such cases, that 

 any resistance is made. 



The Koondah Rajah has a peculiar method of 



