VI.

CONFESSIONS OF RAMDEENOOA, BHUR.

I.

I was born in the village of Hurrowa, in the district of Benares. My father Kullooa, was transported beyond the "black waters" (Kala pánee) for burglary with wounding, while I was yet a child, and my mother was put to sad shifts to maintain herself and two children. Almost starved, I was forced to steal to support nature; and my mother encouraged me in pilfering. As I grew up I became bolder, by listening to the "hair breadth scapes" and adventures of the elders of my tribe. My father was frequently the subject of discourse, and his daring deeds were the theme of admiration. I was said to be very like him in appearance; and as I was then approaching my eighteenth year, great expectations were formed of me. I was young, and had I been inclined to earn an honest livelihood, it would have been impossible to do so. I was told by everybody, not of my own caste, that I was the son of a thief, and would be one myself. The Police myrmidons, upon every occasion of theft or robbery in the neighbourhood, made it a point to search my house, and to take me to the thanah* on suspicion. I was becoming desperate, and ready to join in any scheme of villainy, when the following occurrence decided the course of my future life.

A band of thieves had been very actively engaged in the chaoneet of the Sahibs, and considerable property had been stolen. The house of the Magistrate Buhadoor had not escaped. The most stringent orders were issued to the police to recover the property, and to trace the thieves, under penalty of dismissal from office. But the offenders had fled the country; having come over from the Oude frontier, through Jounpore. The old darogah,‡ Meer Kureem Buksh, in despair, sent a burkundaz§ and dragged my mother and myself to the thanah; while my young brother managed to escape and hide himself.

"Darogah Sahib," I exclaimed, folding my hands in humility; "why has your slave been apprehended? And why has his mother been dragged before your worship?"

"Does the whelp bark?" said the darogah-" Dog, and son

*Thanah.-Police-office.

+ Chaonee.-Station.
Darogah.-Police officer.
§ Burkundaz.-Constable.

of a dog, thou wilt meet, inshallah!* the doom under which thy father suffered. Our eyes have been upon thy house, and we have discovered that thou and that kumbukht† thy mother were at the bottom of the late robberies in the Chaonee of the Sahibán-i-Aleeshán ; and unless thou and she confess, by the prophet you shall repent."

"Aee! Darogah Jee," I replied, "what ashes have fallen on my head! who has befouled my name that your worship should suspect me of being an accomplice of thieves? Do I not cultivate three beegahs of land; and have I ever failed in my annual nuzzur§ that you now condemn my mother and me?" I took out one rupce, and respectfully offered it, for accep

tance.

Whether it was the smallness of the offering, or that it was presented openly, before the burkundazes of the thanah, I know not; but the darogah snatched the rupee out of my hand, and called out to the people present to witness against me. I was kicked and beat with shoes, and my feet put into the stocks; and my mother was shoved into a kennel, that a dog of tender nurture would have been stifled in.

my

Thus was I confined for six weeks, with nothing better to eat than a mess of Suttoo ;|| when I was sent, along with my mother, to the Sahib Magistrate's Kutcherry. There defence was recorded, in the great man's room; but out of ear-shot. I denied the charge brought against me; and alleged that I had been torn from my home, without having been guilty of any crime. That I had been beaten and starved; and that my crop of corn, upon which my subsist ence depended, had been destroyed or plundered during my

confinement.

I had grown warm, and spoke loud and angrily. The Huzoor's notice was attracted, and he desired me to cease my clamour. But I exclaimed, "you are the Gosáín,¶; you are the Gureeb purwur ;** and if I do not speak before you, how shall justice be done me? Junab-i-Alee !†† the Darogah is a rascal. He has been bribed by the thieves, whom he has

*Inshallah.-So please God.
† Kumbukht.—Unlucky jade.

Sahibán Alishún.-Chief Gentlefolk.
Nuzzur.-Offering.

Suttoo.-Corn parched and ground.
Gosdin.-The Deity.

**Gureeb-purwur.-The protector of the poor.

tt Junab-i-Alee.-May it please your Highness.

released, and has falsely charged my mother and me." The Magistrate was busy with another case, and he took no further notice of me.

In due course my defence was heard, and the witnesses examined. But as nothing was proved against my mother and me, farther than that we were the son and wife of a notorious robber, the Magistrate was forced to release us; contenting himself with admonitions for the future.

Before leaving the presence, however, I ventured to submit to the Magistrate, that as my long confinement had branded me with the character of a thief; and my fields had been destroyed; I begged that the Sircar would give me wherewithal to live, or furnish me with some employment. But I was told that the Sircar would not aid me. I proceeded homewards, reflecting upon the anomaly that condemned my tribe by wholesale as thieves and robbers, and then forced us into the commission of crimes by shutting against us the doors of honest employment, and thus continuing us in our career of atrocity.

II.

Forced by necessity to become a robber, I lost no time in concocting a plan for replenishing my consumptive purse. I communicated my scheme to some of my father's comrades; who readily agreed to join me. Our scene of operations was the line of road from Benares to Jounpore. Great part of the Sipaheest of the Koompanee Buha door are enlisted in the warlike country of Ujoodhea,‡ and on their obtaining furlough, are obliged to pass through Kashee§ and Jounpore to get to their homes. The high-road from Benares to Jounpore passes through the town of Sheopoor about three miles from the former city; after which there is a dreary country, full of ravines, beyond the large village of Hurrowa, my native place.

I had, by lurking about the treasury at Benares, discovered that several Sipahecs had been paid sums of money, varying from fifty to two hundred rupees each. I had ascertained that they were to leave early next morning; and had applied to the Choudhuree for coolics to convey their baggage homewards.

This Choudhuree was Jankee Chumar, a man with whom my, father had had extensive dealings; and I went to him at night and explained my plan of operations. He at once sided with the son of his comrade; and myself and two others were sent to the Sipahees, to carry their loads.

We had comrades stationed in the broken ground, between the villages of Turna and Hurrowa. And as we jogged along under our burthens, and approached the spot fixed upon for the robbery, I was seized with a violent fit of coughing. I sat down on the ground, by the road-side; and the Sipahees and the two other cooleys did the same. Suddenly the robbers rushed upon us; and before the Sipahees could get ready to defend themselves, they were floored by the bludgeons of the robbers. The bundles we were conveying, were snatched from us. The waists of the Sipahees were stripped of their "himayanee;"* and before the wounded men recovered their senses, the robbers had fled with the booty.

No sooner were they out of sight than I set up a shouting that would have raised the dead. "Bap re!-Bap re !+Dakah! Dakah !" shouted I. "Chor! Chor !-Mardala ! Cheenleeya! roared my comrades. The Sipahees were roused, and asked what was the matter? We told them that we had been attacked by fifty armed men; and that all the property was taken from us and from their own persons. Some villagers were attracted by the noise, and came to enquire what it was about? The choukeedarst of the road (who, by the bye, had formed part of the gang of robbers) also pretended to run to the rescue; and after hearing our story, hastened to the thanah to give information of the daring robbery. The Sipahees, myself and two comrades followed at a slower pace.

Meer Kurreem Buksh, the thanahdar of Hurrowa, at once took the depositions of the Sipahees, the choukeedars and myself, and the other two coolies. The Sipahees affirmed that they had been set upon by a band of fifty men, armed with talwars and lohabundas,§ and that before they could defend themselves, they were felled to the earth, and robbed of everything they had. I swore that one hundred and fifty men from the Nuwabeell had attacked us; and that from fear, my comrades and myself fell down and pretended

* Himayanee.-Long purses worn round the waist.

"Oh dear-oh dear-robbery-dacoity-thieves-thieves-murder and plunder.

Choukeedars.-Watchmen.

Talwars.-Swords.-Lohabandas.-Bludgeons studded with iron.
Nuwabee-The territory of the Nuwáb-Oude.

to be dead; and thus escaped the blows that had felled the Sipahees. That Juggoo and Goolab chowkeedars had, on hearing us shout after the robbers had run away, come up to the rescue; and run after them one kos ;* and then preceded us to the thanah.

"How do you know that the robbers were from the Nuwabee?" enquired Kurreem Buksh.

"How do I know?" responded I-" Do I not know, Meer Saheb, a Nuwabee man from one of these parts? The robbers had on long dhotees. They had long hair and wore no turbans; and had on the Juneo; ‡ and I guess they were Nuwabee Rajpoots."

"But," said Kurreem Buksh, "what were you doing with the Sipahees, Ramdeenooa? I know you to be a budmash,§ and I suspect you to be at the bottom of the robbery— Yes, you huramzadeh !|| you are one of the robbers, and unless you confess, you shall dearly rue this day."

"What dirt are you eating, Darogah jee!" I cried. "What had I to do with the robbery? Ask Jankee Choudhuree whether he did not send me, and Kullooa and Ghoorlot, to carry the Sipahees' bundles to Babutpoor? And ask the chowkeedars whether they did not hear us, shouting "Bap re !-Bap re!"

But the old Darogah would not listen to my remonstrances; and myself and two companions were confined in the thanah, until we should confess. A well-written statement of the robbery was sent up to the Sahib Magistrate; which wound up with saying that, "ha iqbal-i-huzoor,"¶ the principal robbers had been apprehended by the joostojoyee wuh moostaidee"** of the slave.

But I was like the cub of the fox, that will bear to be worried without murmuring. Neither starvation, nor beating with shoes, nor confinement in a kennel half-filled with the most vile and filthy abominations, could force me to confess. Two days and nights passed away, and Kurreem Buksh was in an agony of despair for his situation.

A cleverly written statement of the grounds of my apprehension, was sent up to the Huzoor; and facts and pre

*Kos-A distance of two miles.

† Dhotee. The lower garment of Hindoos.

Juneo. The cord distinctive of Brahmins and Rajpoots.
Budmash.-A man of infamous profession.

Huramzadah.-Base-begotten.

Ba iqbal i huzoor.-By his highness's good fortune. ** Dexterity.