1032 Mission to the Court of Siam. [Dec. 



been heard of; the thieves of Bankok are said to be perfect in their 

 calling. The path to day has been more level than we have travelled 

 since leaving Sa-di-diong's village, and open to the eastward, the western 

 hills continuing. We have passed some small Kareen villages with 

 their clearings, crossed one stream of water, and passed at lOh. 30m. 

 a spring from a rock, which after running in a small stream for a few 

 hundred yards, is lost in the same way, as that near which we 

 encamped on the 14th; at lh. 40m., we passed the paddy and cotton 

 fields of this village, the most extensive we have seen ; the cotton now 

 ready for gathering, very good, long in the staple, and pods large. At 

 2h. halt near the village of Ke-dean, of six houses. Elephants came 

 up at 6 p. m. Saw at Kenny Ena (so called by way of distinction 

 having a Kenny or convent) a very handsome elephant, with tusks 

 at least 7 feet long, belonging to the Poonghees. 



January \*]th. — Roye-tsong, 3h. 10m., nine miles. Started at 

 10h., having been again detained by the same elephant which crossed 

 the river two nights ago; march along a jungle path, the same as 

 before, pretty level throughout, but rocky in the first part of the 

 march ; passed only one run of water, but a considerable extent of 

 paddy and cotton ground, in all eight clearings, the last of considerable 

 extent. None of the Kareen villages I have seen or heard of in this 

 part of the country contain more than five or six houses, generally 

 only three, but the houses are long, and several families live under the 

 same roof; each family has however always a separate ladder up to 

 the long verandah which runs along the front of the house opposite 

 their own compartment. There are here, as in the Tavoy province 

 two tribes of Kareens, whose languages are different, but intelligible 

 to each other. About two miles from this halting place we passed the 

 Kareen village of Ka-way, at least the female portion of the inhabi- 

 tants are Kareens, the husbands are Talines, and were on duty at 

 May-nam-noi ; some of the gold washers who are sent out annually 

 by the king were in the act of pillaging their house, as we passed ; 

 our approach saved the poor creatures' little property, though all 

 Amhoo-dans, or people employed by the king, whether in cutting 

 timber, washing for gold dust, or what not, receiving no pay, commit 

 larceny by the royal licence. The present depredators were Laos 

 people, though the Talines who are employed in the Sapan forests 

 and the king's troops have all the same privilege ; the order extends 

 only to provisions, but nothing is said to come amiss to them, and the 

 small officers; for the Talines who are employed as soldiers are the 

 wood cutters, and have a boat following them the first few days on the 

 river, which when filled with plunder they send home to their fa- 



