hot irons were applied to the soles of their feet; a bag filled with hot ashes was tied over the mouth and nostrils of the victim, who was then beaten on the back, to make him inhale the ingredients; large stones were placed on the head or chest, or the sufferer being laid on his back, a plank or beam was placed across his chest, on which two men pressed with their whole weight; oil was thrown on the clothes, which were then set on fire – these, with many other modes of torture equally frightful, were resorted to. Neither sex nor age afforded immunity. The hands of children would frequently be cut off, as the shortest way of obtaining the bracelets which adorned them; while women were subjected to outrages compared with which torture and death were mercy. To escape these, numbers rushed upon self-destruction. It is not one of the least revolting features in the economy of these murderous adventurers that their women frequently accompanied their male associates in their excursions. They were mounted on small horses or camels, and are said to have exceeded the other sex in rapacity and cruelty.
When the work of ruin was completed, the Pindarries withdrew like wild beasts to their lairs. Then a change of scene took place; the operation of plunder was exchanged for that of huckstering. The claim of the Government under which they served had first to be satisfied, or, if they were pursuing their vocation independently, that of their chief; but it is not very clear how far either claim extended. By some, the share of each chief has been fixed at a fourth part of the entire booty. By others, it has been alleged that the mode of apportionment was uncertain, but that elephants, palanquins, and some other articles were heriots appertaining to the highest authority recognised by the captors. After the claim of the Government, or the chief, came that of the actual leader of the expedition; then the payment of advances made by merchants – for, like more civilised nations, these people occasionally contracted public debts.
