I860.] Astronomy among the Karens. 237 



Comets. 



Comets are sometimes called " Tailed- Stars," sometimes " Fire- 

 Stars," and sometimes " Smoke-Stars." In common with all other 

 unenlightened nations, the Karens regard their appearance as indi- 

 cating approaching war, famine, pestilence, or other public calamities. 



Planets. 



The Karens do not seem to recognize any planet, excepting Venus. 

 They know the evening and morning star to be one and the same, and 

 by some process not clearly understood, she is sometimes before, and 

 sometimes after the sun. When a morning star, she is called the 

 " Star receiving the morning ;" and when an evening star, the " Star 

 receiving the evening." 



Shooting Stars. 



Shooting Stars are said to be " Youth Stars," going to visit the 

 " Maiden Stars." When a Karen girl sees one she exclaims, " May 

 my hair grow as long as the path thou fliest !" 



Meteors. 



Meteors, the Karens say, are the animals that produce gold and 

 silver, and when seen in the heavens descending to the earth, are sup- 

 posed to be returning home. When a report is heard, as the Karens 

 say there often is, it is the roar the animal makes on entering the 

 earth. Wherever they fall, gold or silver is certainly to be found in 

 the neighbourhood. 



Division of the Year. 



The Karens divide the year into twelve lunar months, and, like 

 occidental nations, they begin it with January, and end it with De- 

 cember. This is contrary to the usage of all the nations that surround 

 them ; the Burmese, the Talaings, and the Shans commencing the 

 year in March. " The civil year," says the Journal of the Asiatic 

 Society of Bengal, " commences differently in different parts of Thibet, 

 varying from December to February. At Asadakh, it begins in De- 

 cember. The months have several names expressive of the seasons, 

 &c, but they are usually denominated numerically; first, second, &c." 

 The Karens would seem then to have derived their calendar from 

 Thibet, for while they make now the year to begin in January, yet 



