2 Physical Character of the Karens. [No. 1, 



The word Karen has been supposed to signify aboriginal, from yen* 

 u first," and kaf 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-Taing,l 

 11 wild men ; while the more civilized Mopghas that bring honey and 

 bees' wax for sale, they call Taubya,§ u wild bees ;" and they find in 

 the dress of another a distinctive name, and call them " Bed 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 Kai-khen, 

 the name the other Karen tribes give them. 



Eight 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 



g|£ 



Pgha-knyan 



for 



Sgau. 





Pie-ya 



>> 



Bghai. 





Pra-ka-ya, or 



Ka ya „ 



Red Karen. 





Heu-phlong 



>> 



Pwo. 





Peu 



>j 



Taru. 





Plau 



?> 



Mopgha. 





f CO 



t ojl§& 



§ ccqo qps 



II *§ 



