130 Notes of the Karen Language. [No. 2 = 



cestors liad crossed before coming. That was a fearful, trackless 

 region, where the sands rolled before the winds like the waves of the 

 sea. They were led through it bj a chieftain who had more than 

 human power to guide them ; and Sau Quala, when he first related 

 the tradition, remarked that the whole story seemed to him like 

 Moses guiding the children of Israel across the Red Sea and through 

 the desert. 



To what this river, or waters, of running sand referred, was quite 

 an enigma to me for several years, till I met with the Journal of 

 the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Ea Hian, who came from China to. 

 India in the early part of the fifth century of the Christian era. 

 He thus designates the great desert between China and Tibet. The 

 governor of the " Town of Sands," he says, furnished his party with 

 " the necessary means of crossing the River of Sand." "There are 

 evil spirits in this Eiver of Sand," he continues, "and such scorch- 

 ing wiuds, that whoso encountereth them dies, and none escape. 

 Neither birds are seen in the air, nor quadrupeds on the ground. 

 On every side, as far as the eye can reach, if you seek for the proper 

 place to cross, there is no other mark to distinguish it than the 

 skeletons of those who have perished there ; these alone seem to 

 indicate the route." Karen tradition says that the chieftain who led 

 the party stretched out the staff in his hand as they crossed, from 

 time to time, and stones rolled up in a path before them, to show 

 the course they ought to take. 



This emigration occurred about the time the Shans first settled 

 in Labong and Zimmay ; because the tradition represents the chief- 

 tain to have come over first with au exploriug party, and that they 

 selected the region around Labong and Zimmay for their future 

 home ; but when he returned with his nation, he found it occupied 

 by the Shans. 



The oldest of these cities is Labong, and, according to Dr. Richard- 

 son, Shan history states that that city was built A. D. 574 ; so this 

 emigration of the Karens may have occurred some centuries after 

 the commencement of the Christian era. Their traditions point 

 unequivocally to an ancient connection with China ; for Tie or Tien 

 is spoken of as a god inferior to Jehovah ; and offering to the manes 

 of their ancestors is as commo;i auiong the Karens as it is among 

 the Chinese. 



