[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Dark Ages](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages) › [Travellers (1500–1858)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel) › [Mongolicae legationis commentarius](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.monserrate) › [The Commentary of Father Monserrate (Hoyland)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.monserrate~en-hoyland) › 2.2.8 # The Commentary of Father Monserrate 2.2.8 The Commentary of Father Monserrate (Hoyland) 2.2.8 - **Language:** English ### [2.2.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.monserrate~en-hoyland.2.2.8) The jungle on each side is exceedingly dense, and the ground broken and rough. There one of the ambassador's guards was killed by robbers, and no revenge could be taken. The inhabitants of these mountains worship ghosts. They are ruled by three kings, of whom one is the master of the other two and is as it were their emperor. They are constantly at war with the Mongols. When one of their tribes is pacified, and a treaty made with the Mongols, the other two tribes carry on the wild and savage warfare, and frequently defeat their great enemy. Occasionally these battles are drawn; but the Mongols can never inflict on the mountaineers a decisive defeat. These mountaineers are wild, barbarous and degraded. They are addicted to brigandage, and have no weapons except bows made of bamboo and short arrows with rusty points. Yet they are exceedingly fierce, intractable, greedy of spoil, and headstrong. They have no cavalry and no artillery, but are vastly aided by the nature of their country, which is remarkable for its deep jungles and precipitous crags. They fortify these natural strongholds with intrenchments and stockades. They assail the enemy from ambuscades, which they lay in thickets and thorny places. Their attack may be open or concealed; but they hesitate to come to close quarters. The extreme narrowness of the tracks, and the steep cliffs on either side, enable a very few of them easily to hold the enemy at bay. - [Previous: 2.2.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.monserrate~en-hoyland.2.2.7) - [Next: 2.2.9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.monserrate~en-hoyland.2.2.9) - [Up: 2.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.monserrate~en-hoyland.2.2) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.monserrate~en-hoyland.2.2.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.monserrate~en-hoyland.2.2.8) · Pramāṇa