HUNTING WITH THE KARENS 99 



two miles an hour, the men plugging along single 

 file. A week of this, with nothing to cheer the out- 

 look, and even the usually lighthearted Karens fell 

 into silence. Then one day we came upon firmer 

 soil, and within forty-eight hours we sighted a set- 

 tlement of three houses. I was in the lead of the 

 advance group of my party, and besides discover- 

 ing the village, also learned a lesson in native hos- 

 pitality. When we arrived all the little group 

 with me except Wan left and went into one of the 

 houses, where they sat, eating bananas and bamboo 

 cane (like sugarcane), none of the residents either 

 inviting me into the house or offering me anything 

 to eat. Wan was indignant and after a little while 

 went to the house where our men sat eating, and 

 I could hear the high notes of his complaining 

 voice coming fast and furious. Shortly a Karen 

 came to me with presents of sugarcane and cocoa- 

 nut powder, for which in return I made him a 

 present of the seed beads they prize highly. Ex- 

 change of presents is the only means of barter with 

 these jungle people, who carry all their belongings, 

 including betel-nut, the most important, tied into 

 a pouch at the end of their loin cloth and hung 

 about their middle. 



We had another siege of Ram's court holding at 

 this place, and he had to pass judgment on some 

 of the most unlovely specimens of the human race 



