They armed themselves chiefly with swords, taking one, two or three
matchlocks, or more should they judge it necessary. Several also
carried their shields and a few had merely sticks, which were in
general shod with small bars of iron from eight to twelve inches in
length, strongly secured by means of rings and somewhat resembling
the ancient mace. One of the party carried a small copper or earthen
pot or a cocoanut-shell with a supply of _ghi_ or clarified butter
in it, to moisten their torches with before they commenced their
operations. The Ramosis endeavoured as much as possible to avoid being
seen by anybody either when they were proceeding to the object of
their attack or returning afterwards to their houses. They therefore
travelled during the night-time; and before daylight in the morning
they concealed themselves in a jungle or ravine near some water,
and slept all day, proceeding in this way for a long distance till
they reached the vicinity of the village to be attacked. When they
were pursued and much pressed, at times they would throw themselves
into a bush or under a prickly pear plant, coiling themselves up
so carefully that the chances were their pursuers would pass them
unnoticed. If they intended to attack a treasure party they would
wait at some convenient spot on the road and sally out when it
came abreast of them, first girding up their loins and twisting
a cloth tightly round their faces, to prevent the features from
being recognised. Before entering the village where their dacoity or
_durrowa_ was to be perpetrated, torches were made from the turban of
one of the party, which was torn into three, five or seven pieces,
but never into more, the pieces being then soaked with butter. The
same man always supplied the turban and received in exchange the best
one taken in the robbery. Those who were unarmed collected bags of
stones, and these were thrown at any people who tried to interfere
with them during the dacoity. They carried firearms, but avoided
using them if possible, as their discharge might summon defenders
from a distance. They seldom killed or mutilated their victims,
except in a fight, but occasionally travellers were killed after
being robbed as a measure of precaution. They retreated with their
spoils as rapidly as possible to the nearest forest or hill, and from
there, after distributing the booty into bags to make it portable,
they marched off in a different direction from that in which they
had come. Before reaching their homes one of the party was deputed
with an offering of one, two or five rupees to be presented as an
offering to their god Khandoba or the goddess Bhawani in fulfilment of
a vow. All the spoil was then deposited before their Naik or headman,
who divided it into equal shares for members of the gang, keeping a
double share for himself.