A (iVNG OF DACOITS 



though he was seen once or twice, and fired at liy the 

 pohce, he always managed to escape. 



The failure of the rains for two consecutive seasons caus- 

 ing famine, had produced great distress which, added to the 

 presence and rapacity of the professional money-lenders, 

 was the priniar\' cause of these dacoities ; hence there was 

 something to be said in favour of the robbers, many of 

 whom having been ruined by these men, had become 

 criminals by netcssity rather than of their own free will. 



But be this as it may, their depredations soon assumed 

 very serious proportions, for within a very few weeks no 

 less than one hundred and sixty dacoities, accompanied 

 with murder, had been conimitted by this gang, who, armed 

 with swords and bows, were too powerful to be resisted by 

 the villagers. They generally mutilated their victims, 

 especially if they happened to be money-lenders, by 

 cuttinu off their ears and noses or otherwise disfiguring 

 til. ond recognition. 



.\t iingth, not content with plundering villages, 

 Chimanya and his followers now attacked a police post 

 on the frontier, and seizing the rifles and ammunition 

 they found there, made off with them. Tlioroughly 

 acquainted with all the hill [)aths aiul iHxky ehasIn^ of 

 the border, they easily evaded subsequent pursuit by the 

 police, who, moreover, were considerably handicapped by 

 heavy rain. 



I well remember the occasion and the disco"f >♦- I 

 })erienccd (iuriiij^f this pursait. l>cing frequentlx d 



out of my tents ; also the exhilaration of my assistant on 

 finding our dining-tablc jtist long enough to sleep under, 

 and so protect him from the stream that poured through 

 the roof of the shanty in which we once took shelter. The 

 chase on this occasion ended in failurr, ftu nian\ of lli« 

 patels or headmen of the villages W( pissed, fearing 

 reprisals, would give no information of tin- nioveinents 

 " the abscon«i<is. though, as we learnt latir, tluy had 

 ipplied them with food and drink. 



MortH»ver, to guard against arrest, the gang kept con- 

 tinuously on the move, changing their enc4»mpmeat every 

 day, and were jierpetually on the alert, iuoui\ting regular 

 sentries whercvt i they encamped; so that, on the whole, 



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