139 



History of the Ramoossieso 



sponsibility that was thrown upon him. Coercive measures, howe- 

 ver, were sometimes had recourse to, to force him to his duty, by 

 either recovering the stolen articles, seizing; the robbers, or pointing 

 them out to the village authorities ; and, until either of these objects 

 had been effected, security was taken from him for the fulfilment 

 of his engagement, or the Naik himself was placed in confinement. 



Should the Rukwalldar, however, have been really innocent, and 

 ignorant of the outrage that had been comn)itted, until the persona 

 following the track had reached within the limits of his charge, he 

 would after some little search within his own boundary, return to his 

 house, if he failed in discovering the direction the gang had proceeded 

 in, having previously ascertained, most minutely, from the persons 

 that had come from the village where the robbery had been committed, 

 the day of the week, the hour of the night or day on which it oc- 

 curred, with a particular description of the different articles that had 

 been carried off, and if the gang had been seen any where when re- 

 tiring from the village with their spoil : if so, at what place, and at 

 what hour. On all these points they endeavoured to collect the 

 most correct information, to enable them, if possible, to determine 

 at what hour of the night the gang miaht have entered the boun- 

 dary of the village on their return with their plunder. Then, if 

 according to their calculations, they had arrived after midnight, or 

 towards morning, they concluded that the robbers could not be at 

 any great distance, and that they must have belonged to some of 

 the neighbouring villages ; — or should they have been strangers, 

 that they must be concealed some where in the vicinity. Two or 

 three persons probably women or boys (Ramoossies,) were sent to 

 search the adjacent ravines, or jungles, or wherever there were any 

 lurking places, pretending that they were picking up cow dung, or 

 branches of bushes for firewood, — while some of the Ramoossies 

 proceeded to some of the adjoining villages, and without any allu- 

 sion to the robbery entered into conversation with the men and wo- 

 men, and endeavoured to discover if the Ramoossies of the village 

 were all at home on the night on which the robbery occurred, after 

 a good deal of questioning and cross questioning, if it appeared 

 they were all present, the Ramoossy, satisfied with what he heard, 

 proceeded to another village. But should he have been told, for 

 instance, that Bappoo had gone to Looney to visit his sister, and 

 that Ballah had gone to the Pattell's field at Wurgawn, to steal 

 some grain ; the Ramoossy made inquiries at Bappoo's sister's 

 house at Looney, if the brother had been there on the night in ques- 



