A branch of the Bombay presidency runs through a wild region, the
inhabitants of which are unsophisticated savages, addicted to thievery.
The first day the line was opened a number of these Arcadians conspired
to intercept the train, and have a glorious loot. To accomplish their
object they placed some trunks of trees across the rails; but the engine
driver, keeping a very sharp look out, as it happened to be his first
trip on the line in question, descried the trunks while yet they were at
a considerable distance from him. The breaks were then put on, and when
the locomotive had approached within a couple of feet of the trunks it
was brought to a standstill. Then, instantaneously, like Roderick Dhu’s
clansmen starting from the heather, natives, previously invisible,
swarmed up on all sides, and, crowding into the carriages, began to
pillage and plunder everything they could lay their hands upon. While
they were thus engaged, the guard gave the signal to the driver, who at
once reversed his engine and put it to the top of its speed. The reader
may judge of the consternation of the robbers when they found themselves
whirled backwards at a pace that rendered escape impossible. Some poor
fellows that attempted it were killed on the spot.
—_Central India Times_, June 22, 1867.