Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 1 (1876).djvu/254

182 peculiar stage of civilisation, held warfare in abhorrence and regarded it as the greatest curse. On the other hand, the restless, wild inhabitant of the cold plains of what is now called Mongolia, inured to hardship, was ever ready for the foray and the raid. He had little to lose in case of misfortune, but if successful he carried off the accumulated labour of many generations.

(from a Photograph lent by Baron Osten Sacken).

Such were the conditions which impelled the nomads towards China, and the border of their plateau served as an admirable vantage-ground for their aggressions. Here whole hordes would assemble, and hence they would suddenly pour into the enemy's country. History has recorded several irruptions of this kind, from the Mongolian side as well as