JOURNAL 



OF THE 



ASIATIC SOCIETY. 



Part II.— PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 



No. I.— 18G6. 



Physical Character of the Karens. — By the Rev. F. Mason, D. D. 



[Received 7th January, 1865.] 



Karens.* 



The name Karen has been adopted from the Burmans, who apply 

 it to various uncultivated tribes, that inhabit Burmah and Pegu ; but 

 it is used, in these notices, as designating a people that speak a lan- 

 guage of common origin, which is conveniently called Karen ; embracing 

 many dialects, and numerous tribes. These tribes, though speaking 

 a common language, have no common name with which to distinguish 

 themselves ; but in this respect, they do not differ from our own 

 ancestors. Csesar found some twenty or thirty different tribes in 

 Britain, but it does not appear that they had any common name by 

 which they designated themselves. 



* The following pages are offered as answers to " Queries respecting the 

 human race addressed to travellers, by a Committee of the British Association 

 for the Advancement of Science," at the request of Col. Phayre ; and embrace 

 all the writer has to say on the general division of the Queries, entitled " Phy- 

 sical Characteristics ; " from Query 1 to Query 49. 



No answers are given to Queries 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 30, relating mainly to 

 anatomy, because satisfactory ones have not been obtained. Nor are answers 

 given to Queries 13, 14, 15, 16, because the writer has already published on the 

 subject of Language in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and in his 

 work on " Burmah." To write again on the subject, would necessarily compel 

 him to repeat considerable of what is already in print, which seemed un- 

 desirable. 



