Dacoit

“ On the night of the 21st inst. 400 dacoits, principally Shans, with people from Mogaung district, under the leadership of Boh Ti, took up a position outside Mogaung. Lieutenant O’Donnell, Battalion Commandant, and Lieutenant Elliot, Assistant Commissioner, with 75 Goorkha military police, patrolled outside the fort the whole night. At 4 A.M. they attacked the dacoits, who held a strong position in a series of pagodas, which they had fortified during the night. The dacoits tenaciously held the position, and the consequence was that a fierce contest ensued, each pagoda being taken in succession. ”

“ The chief deities worshipped by the Dacoits in common were Kalee or Davee, and Sooruj Deota or Sun God. Before setting out upon an expedition, they were always careful to take the auspices; which was done in this manner. Having procured several goats, the principal men assembled, and while one of them held some water in his mouth, the others prayed, "O thou Sun God! And O all ye other gods! if we are to succeed in the enterprise we are about to undertake, we pray ye to cause these goats to shake their bodies!" ”

“ Feeling the heat of the sun, after their meal both men and women removed their garments above the waist, showing ornaments of gold, silver and copper encircling their necks.
The women-folk of the dacoits, though far from beautiful, possessed a certain charm, arising from their curious wildness. Unlike those of the generality of Tibetan women, their teeth were very good, and their complexion was not specially dark, the black ointment with which their cheeks, noses, and foreheads were smeared making them appear darker than they really were, and being decidedly unbecoming. ”

“ Their march was unmolested, and in the heart of a dense unhealthy jungle—though not so experienced by the Dacoits themselves—they came upon his fort, a parallelogram sixty yards long by forty wide. It was surrounded by a ditch with an embankment within, formed of the mud there excavated. At a short distance was another colony of about five hundred able-bodied Budhuks governed by Cheyda, Maherban's brother. These united with the few who had been left at home by the latter, and opened a warm but ill-directed fire upon the troops, as they advanced with cheers to the assault. ”

“ Rubbing his chubby knuckles in his eyes the sleepy little boy answered: "Oh, yes, where were you, mother? A lot of men came. Some wanted to hit me, but— (naming the servant) was with them, and he sent them away. Then he gave me sweets and put me to sleep."
The servant was arrested, and he confessed that he was one of the band of dacoits who had sent the warning letter and had broken into the house. ”

“ Not far from the tree he found a small thatched house and several men gathered behind it. Moving warily forward among the group he recognised the manjhis. "Dacoits!" he whispered to himself. Then an inspiration struck him. ”

“ When at home we amuse ourselves by shooting, or visiting our friends, or in any way most agreeable—eat when we please, and sleep when we please—can, what you call an honest man, do that?"
Another who had passed a like period within the gaol at Lucknow, returned to Dacoitee a few months after his release. "I was then young," said he, "and in high spirits—I had been confined with many other old Dacoits—and in gaol I used to hear them talking of their excursions, how they got 50,000 rupees here and 20,000 rupees there ”

“ Here they were intercepted by Serferez and his party, who gave them a warm reception. Three or four of the dacoits, however, among whom was the Boh, secured a boat and rowed off for their lives.
"Follow them!" shouted Jackson, springing into the snake boat; "not a man must escape!" Phipson and a few others took another boat, and there was a hot pursuit. The dacoits realized, however, that it was no use, and, evidently resolving to die fighting, ran their boat ashore on a small island near the middle of the river and took to the thickets, from which they began a smart fire. ”

“ Dacoity, when the complete pacification of Burmah was so long delayed, became the last form of resistance of the people. The one time thieves were promoted into rebels and insurgents. The Burmese did not all accept British rule very willingly, and the government resolved to finally crush opposition by exterminating the dissidents under the name of Dacoity. Many serious encounters, costly in human life, were fought; many leaders of small bands long evaded pursuit and gave much trouble. ”

“ A few, including the Mounted Police, knew something of Dakota's past, but in a country where a man's present is all that matters, the story that might have been told died from lack of interest. In a general way it was common knowledge that Dakota had drifted over from the States, a born cow-puncher, broncho-buster, and prairie-man; and at his heels had come a motley assortment of kindred spirits whom Dakota had rounded up as his outfit at the H-Lazy Z. No one could say that the results in cold cash had not justified him. ”

“ The king was proud of his son, the heir to his throne. But, alas! it seemed that it was not enough, even for a negro prince, to know how to shoot an elephant through the eye; he must also learn to read books and writing, for, said the wise king to his son, “White man always has paper in his pocket to cheat black man with.” Of course some European might have been found in Dahomey who could instruct the prince,—for French and English flags floated over the ships in the harbors. But the king had himself been sent by his father to a town called Marseilles, very far at the end of the world ”

“ This was the great chief of the Dacotahs. Mighty Hand was his name, and that hand was famed for its deeds of valour as equally for its deeds of kindness. He was sole monarch of a mighty branch-tribe of the Dacotahs that had long been separated from its renegade brethren, preferring to maintain the old life in the forest and on the prairie rather than a workhouse existence in a Government Reserve. He led his people far from the haunts of white men, and his life was only harmful to the game that supplied his people's needs. ”

“ They buy many animals from the Southern Indians, who have stolen them from New Mexico, or trapped them on the plains below the Rocky Mountains. Considerable numbers are also bred by themselves. The Dakotah nation is one of the most warlike and numerous in the United States territory. In single combat on horseback they are described as having no superiors; a skill acquired by constant practice enables them to spear their game at full speed, and the rapidity with which they discharge their arrows, and the accuracy of their aim, rival the shooting which may be made with a revolver. ”

“ When the moon is round, they shall rise out of the lake that is silver. They shall come without canoe to bear them, and without arrow or tomahawk for fighting. By this shall you know them. Then shall the Dacotahs lay hands upon the white spirits; they shall treat them kindly, but they shall bring them to the Peace Camp and there consume them with fire. Then shall the power of the water spirits be broken. ”

“ Dockett about its architecture, and told him that it was finer than anything in Athens; there, were the same great trees; there the same rows of old offices, only a little more dilapidated; there the same moody faces of the few whites, and the same crowd of idling negroes lagging about his troop. He turned and looked at the clerk’s office, almost expecting to see the same rosy, girlish face looking out at him defiantly. Instead, a brawny negro in black clothes, with a beaver hat cocked on the side of his head, was lounging in the [508] door smoking a cigar. ”

“ There is no nation so great as the Dahcotah—but our people are not so great now as they were formerly. When our forefathers killed buffaloes on these prairies, that the white people now ride across as if they were their own, mighty giants lived among them; they strode over the widest rivers, and the tallest trees; they could lay their hands upon the highest hills, as they walked the earth. But they were not men of war. They did not fight great battles, as do the Thunder Bird and his warriors. ”

“ To get away from this idea Jack resumed his weary journey. The damp earth had stiffened in the cold night wind, and his own footfall sounded in his ears so unnaturally heavy, that he fancied Mâdou was at his side or behind him.
The child passes through a slumbering village; a clock strikes two. Another village, another clock, and three was sounded. Still the boy plods on, with swimming head and burning feet. He dares not stop. Occasionally he meets a huge covered wagon, driver and horses sound asleep. He asks, in a timid, tired voice, “Is it far now to Etiolles?” ”

“ The Sioux found many old friends and allies among the Cheyennes. There was Red Crane, and Turns Around, and Black Beaver, and Sitting Bear and Fighting Wolf and several more. Some were unable to speak the Dacotah dialect, but they clasped hands with the young scouts and made it [Pg 148] plain that they were glad to see them. Then Running Crow addressed his warriors.
"My brothers, I have bad words," he said. "There is little time to talk. Listen sharp. These brave Dacotahs came here to find us. Red Dog sent them. The Kiowas were all around our village. They say it was a great war party. ”

“ Like the Moroccans in their last war with Spain, they never attack when they should, and they never fail to attack when they should not.
The Dakotahs, when first visited by the whites, lived around the head-waters of the Mississippi and the Red River of the north. They have gradually migrated toward the west and southwest, guarded by their allies the Cheyennes, who have given names successively to the Cheyenne of Red River, to the Big Cheyenne of the Missouri, and to the section of the country between the Platte and the Arkansas which they now occupy. ”

“ No device of an analogous character is found among five hundred of the Dakotan pictographs studied, so that the designation of abnormal fat is made evident.
Fig. 1069.
Fig. 1069.—They killed many Gros Ventres in a village which they assaulted. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1832-’33. The single scalped head shows the killing. This conventional sign is so common as hardly to require notice.
Fig. 1070.—Killed. Dakota.
Fig. 1070, taken from Mrs. Eastman’s Dakota (e) , shows the Dakota pictograph for “killed”: a is a woman and b a man killed, and c and d a boy and girl killed. ”

“ She points to the walls of the fort—she does not speak; but her action says, "It cannot be; the Sioux woman cannot sleep beneath the roof of her enemies."
She is gone—God help the Sioux woman! the widow and the childless. God help her, I say, for other hope or help has she none.
GODS OF THE DAHCOTAHS. First in order of the gods of the Dahcotahs, comes the Great Spirit. He is the creator of all things, excepting thunder and wild rice. ”

“ Dacotahs fools, Dacotahs believe foolish stories, and—Thunder-maker can lead their feet by what trail he will."
"H'm. That was plain enough this afternoon when you played with those rattlesnakes," remarked Arnold, at which the Indian laughed quietly.
"Dacotahs fools. But white men wise. They see not with the eyes of redmen. But Dacotahs might be great people if Mighty Hand were in Happy Hunting-ground." [2]
"But what has all this got to do with us?" asked Holden.
"My white brothers in great danger. In a few more suns cruel fire burn beautiful bodies. ”

“ And this is how the fairy rings are made!
Perhaps the finest of all the bisons or buffaloes are those which inhabit the country now known as Dakota, where, fifty or sixty years ago, dwelt the Sioux Indians, a nation of mighty hunters. The animals are very useful for many purposes, and while their skins are of great value as beds or coverings, the flesh forms the principal food of the tribe. The hunting is almost always done on horseback, and the first thing necessary is to catch one of the small breed of horses which formerly roamed in bands over the prairies. ”

“ He did, however, pay for Dachicoin’s coat out of his own merchandise. Because of the success of the trading trip Dachicoin’s name became popular along the frontier. His character was such, that his word was his bond. He never bought any trade goods outright to sell them for a profit as did the French traders. Always he asked for goods on consignment. It was a familiar sight at Natchitoches and at Los Adais to see Dachicoin arrange what he had received for a consignment into three piles—one pile represented the cost of trade goods and one the profits. ”

“ The avenue terminated in a village street, with white houses on both sides, inhabited by the master and head-workmen. At this hour all was silent; life and movement were concentrated at the factory; and, but for the linen drying in the yards, an occasional cry of an infant, and a pot of flowers at the window, one would have supposed the place uninhabited.
“Ah, the flag is lowered!” said the singer, as they reached the door. “Once that terrified me!” and he explained to Jack that when the flag was dropped from the top of the staff, it meant that the doors of the factory were closed. ”

“ The Dahcotahs believe, or many of them believe, that each body has four souls. One wanders about the earth and requires food; a second watches over the body; the third hovers round its native village, while the fourth goes to the land of spirits. ”