"Wherever he turned, he found no opponent, nor even any human creature; every inhabited place was forsaken: and the poor inhabitants, who fled to the woods and mountains in the most inclement season, had the anguish to behold their houses in flames, their fruit-trees cut down, their cattle destroyed and their temples burned. The perfidy of the Nayres [Nairs] had been too great for them to trust the offers of pardon made by Hyder, by means of Brahmins he despatched into the woods and mountains to recall these unhappy people; who were hanged without mercy, and their wives and children reduced to slavery; whenever they were found in the woods by the troops of Hyder; severity and mildness being both equally ineffectual in making them return to their homes."