At night they were set upon by a large gang of Thugs, and sixteen of them strangled; but the seventeenth laid hold of the noose before it could be brought to bear upon his throat, pulled down the villain who held it, and made his way good to the town.

The Raja, Dharak Singh, went to the spot with all the followers he could collect; but he found there nothing but the sixteen naked bodies lying in the grove, with their eyes apparently starting out of their sockets.

The Thugs had all gone off with the treasure and their clothes, and the Raja searched for them in vain.
A native commissioned officer of a regiment of native infantry one day told me that, while he was on duty over some Thugs at Lucknow, one of them related with great seeming pleasure the following case, which seemed to him one of the most remarkable that he had heard them speak of during the time they were under his charge.
'A stout Mogul[7] officer of noble bearing and singularly handsome countenance, on his way from the Punjab to Oudh, crossed the Ganges at Garhmuktesar Ghat, near Meerut, to pass through Muradabad and Bareilly.[8] He was mounted on a fine Turki horse, and attended by his "khidmatgar" (butler) and groom.

Soon after crossing the river, he fell in with a small party of well-dressed and modest-looking men going the same road.

They accosted him in a respectful manner, and attempted to enter into conversation with him.