^68 NOTICE OF THE 



principal articles of trade : these they carry into Aracan and Ava, and ex- 

 change for money, or such articles of food and clothing as their own wilds 

 have denied them. 



With the use of fire arms they are, generally speaking, unacquainted, and 

 seem to hold them in great awe : their own weapons are the spear, dah, and 

 the cross-bow, with a quiver full of arrows. The latter are made of bamboo, 

 with the point hardened by fire, and doubly barbed ; they are deeply poisoned^ 

 and the slightest touch inflicts instant death. This poison is vegetable, and 

 procured by making an incision in the bark of certain trees, and collecting 

 the liquor which exudes. 



The frightful custom of tattooing the faces of the women, derives its ori- 

 gin from a very curious story, and one that reflects much credit on the inhabi- 

 tants of the mountains. At the period when the Tartars conquered the 

 plains, and drove the Khyens to the mountains, they imposed an annual tri- 

 bute on this persecuted race, and in default of payment, used to seize the 

 prettiest of the mountain beauties, and collecting a considerable number, 

 presented them to their despotic sovereign, who selected from the groupe those 

 whom he deemed worthy to adorn his seraglio. To such an extent was this 

 monopoly at last carried, that the Khyens, in order to save their race from 

 extermination, persuaded all their young women to sacrifice those personal 

 charms which drew such a dangerous distinction on them. A proposition 

 with which they immediately cheerfully complied, and tattooed their faces. 

 When these hideous creatures were presented to the monarch, he sent them 

 back in great wrath, and ordered a fresh search to be made for new objects 

 to fill his haram : it, however, proved fruitless, as all the girls had undergone 

 the test of freedom, and none remained unblemished, save old women and 

 children. Foiled thus in his attempt to destroy the happiness of the inoffen- 

 sive^Khyens, the tyrant turned his views elsewhere, and no longer molested 



