ants of the adjoining village were then
called and were responsible for carrying on the trail through their
village. The measures of footprints were handed over to them, and after
satisfying themselves that the marks came from outside and extended
into their land they took up the trail accompanied by the Ramosi. In
this way the gang was tracked from village to village, and if it was
run to earth the residents of the villages to which it belonged had to
make good the loss. If the tracks were lost owing to the robbers having
waded along a stream or got on to rocky ground or into a public road,
then the residents of the village in whose borders the line failed
were considered responsible for the stolen property. Usually, however,
a compromise was made, and they paid half, while the other half was
raised from the village in which the theft occurred. If the Ramosi
failed to track the thieves out of the village he had to make good
the value of the theft, but he was usually assisted by the village
officer. Often, too, the owner had to be contented with half or a
quarter of the amount lost as compensation. In the early part of the
century the Ramosis of Poona became very troublesome and constantly
committed robberies in the houses of Europeans. As a consequence a
custom grew up of employing a Ramosi as chaukidar or watchman for
guarding the bungalow at night on a salary of seven rupees a month,
and soon became general. It was the business of the Ramosi watchman to
prevent other Ramosis from robbing the house. Apparently this was the
common motive for the custom, prevalent up to recent years, of paying
a man solely for the purpose of watching the house at night, and it
originated, as in Poona, as a form of insurance and an application
of the proverb of setting a thief to catch a thief. The selection of
village watchmen from among the low, criminal castes appears to have
been made on the same principle.

4. Social customs

The principal deity of the Ramosis is Khandoba, the Maratha god of
war. [586] He is the deified sword, the name being _khanda-aba_
or sword-father. An oath taken on the Bhandar or little bag of
turmeric dedicated to Khandoba is held by them most sacred and no
Ramosi will break this oath. Every Ramosi has a family god known as
Devak, and persons having the same Devak cannot intermarry. The Devak
is usually a tree or a bunch of the leaves of several trees. No one
may eat the fruit of or otherwise use the