2 Physical Character of the Karens. [No. 1, 
The word Karen has been supposed to signify aboriginal, from yen* 
‘first,’ and kat} a formative particle ; but the derivation is European, 
not Burmese. The Burmans have never been so recondite in naming 
wild tribes. When the Buddhist missionaries landed at Martaban, they 
denominated the aboriginal inhabitants Beloos, or ‘‘ Monsters,’ and 
the Burmese still retain the name for a tribe of Karens on the borders 
of Karenee. The subdued Bghais they dispose of as Loo-Yaing,t 
“wild men; while the more civilized Mopghas that bring honey and 
’ 
bees’ wax for sale, they call Zaubya,§ ‘‘ wild bees ;” and they find in 
the dress of another a distinctive name, and call them “ Red Karens.” 
The word Karen is probably a Karen word. One of the northern 
Karen tribes, with which the Burmans must have held most inter- 
course before they conquered Pegu, call themselves Ka-yong, which is 
sufficiently near the Burmese to be the same word. ‘Then we have a 
precisely parallel case in the name they give this tribe, which is 
Gai-kho,|| a Karen word that is manifestly identical with Kaz-khen, 
the name the other Karen tribes give them. 
Hight distinct Karen tribes are known, who speak dialects so diverse, 
that they cannot understand each other; and yet, on examination, the 
larger proportion of the roots of each dialect are of common origin. 
These’ tribes have often several names, and not only are travellers 
misled by them; but residents often take up wrong impressions and 
give, for distinct nations, names that refer to the same tribe. 
A few of the tribes only have distinctive names for themselves, and 
all, when speaking to each other, use the word for man to designate 
themselves ; precisely as the Hebrews use the word for man as the 
proper name of the first man, Adam. Were these terms for man 
adopted in English, the tribes would be much more accurately distin- 
guished than they are at present. Thus we should have 
Pegha-knyan for Sgau. 
Pie-ya Fs Bghai. 
Pra-ka-ya, or Ka ya __,, Red Karen. 
Heu-phlong Hh PANO, 
Peu is Taru. 
Plau a Mopgha. 
Bem Ge i cacee § Caps) qa-mmmr age 
