IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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| IIIF Color HighRes |
| Southern Tibet : vol.7 |
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Citation Information
IMPORTANCE OF MONSERRATE'S MANUSCRIPT.
2I
far north as Lahore on the recto of the to return presently. has, at some already
He seems to have
~
I Op. cit., p. 528.
and probably lost Bk..II are, however, to be found in Bk. I, which, therefore, is all the more valuable. Captain Wilford's quotations in his articles in the Asiatic Researches, do, as Hosten proves, not refer to the Calcutta MS., now published, but to »Bk. II» now lost. Hosten, therefore, concludes that Wilford had in his possession the original of Monserrate's Book II. Every Asiatic student will heartily agree with Rev. Hosten, in his saying: »It is not impossible that Wilford's MS. should still come to light. Judging from the extracts made by Wilford, we may say that the importance of such a discovery cannot be overrated.»
Hosten says farther' :
»From fol. 2 b to fol. 4 b we have in the MS. a double column of names of towns, rivers, mountains and countries passed through by Monserrate in the course of his travels. The longitudes and latitudes are all given, and a quite scientific map
drawn to scale — the earliest known for portions of India so and Kabul, and a marvel of accuracy for the time — appears extra leaf marked 5.» To this wonderful map we shall have
A mysterious annotator whom Hosten signifies with an X, distant date, seen the precious MS. and added some remarks. been a learned Englishman, but he cannot be identified.
Everybody interested in the history of exploration in India and other parts of Asia, will feel the sincerest gratitude towards Rev. Hosten for the excellent work he has begun, and we have to look forward to new important publications by him. Speaking of the difficulties of translating Monserrate's Latin text, he says: »Besides, so many unpublished materials on the Jesuit Missions in Mogor, Tibet and Bengal, of which not a few will farther elucidate the present work, have now accumulated under my hands that even a long lifetime will scarcely suffice to dispose of them all.»
Regarding the Latin text now published, Rev. Hosten says:
My conclusion, then, is that Monserrate's Bk. I has never been made use of. The Calcutta MS. is a unique copy, nor will the epithet 'excellent', which Graf von Noer applied to a much inferior composition by Monserrate, be found exaggerated. In presenting it to the learned world, I anticipate that his Mongolicae Legationis Commentarius, the earliest known account of Northern India by a European since the days of Vasco da Gama , will take rank as a first-rate authority.
Rev. Hosten may be quite sure that the high praise he gives Monserrate's text is by no means exaggerated. It is extremely interesting to read, and it is like a clear light of real knowledge in the general darkness of those early days. In this connection, though dealing with the history of exploration in and round the Kara-korum Mountains chiefly, his name should not be missing. He has not heard of this great system, it is true, but he has surprisingly correct information about
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