May 1861.] 



Notes on the Karens. 



63 



The Shooay Kying portion of these mountains has been loosely 

 and inaccurately styled the Yoon-tha-lin (from a river of that name) 

 and for want of a better term this nomenclature will be preserved. 



The Yoon-tha-lin then is a mountainous district lying between 

 the Sittoungand Salween rivers with an approximate area of about 

 4,000 square miles. The direction of the hills is from N. N. W. to 

 S. S. E., and their average height about 3,500 feet ; there are se- 

 veral ranges of them, and between each range flows a considerable 

 stream. Travelling eastward from the Sittoung river, it would be 

 necessary to cross three high ranges of mountains and two rivers 

 before the banks of the Salween are reached. 



The upper Yoon-tha-lin is a contracted valley hemmed in by 

 pine-covered hills often impassable ; the features of the lower part 

 of the valley are less rugged and the vegetation partakes more of 

 that of the plains. 



The climate is agreeable — its mean temperature about 70° ; the 

 summer heat is very endurable, and in the cold weather night frosts 

 are frequent. The fall of rain is considerable, it cannot be much 

 less than 180 inches ; and the Monsoon commences earlier and 

 lasts longer than in the low country. The district is very feverish, 

 as might be expected from such an extent of forest ground. 



As other races will be introduced into this narrative, a brief ac- 

 count of them will perhaps not be uninteresting. 



Across the Salween river, live the " Yody-ah" Shans,or Siamese ; 

 these are an ugly swarthy people of short stature and Tartar physi- 

 ognomy. 



At the N. E. angle of the "Yoon-tha-lin" we encounter the Ka» 

 rennees or red Karens, so styled by the Burmans, but apparently 

 incorrectly so, for they have no affinity with the Karen Byoo or 

 ordinary Karen. In the word Karennee, the last syllable " nee" 

 is the Burmese word for "red colour," and the Karennees are so 

 called because they wear short red breeches and a red turban. 



They inhabit the high table land beyond our frontier. They are 

 a race of mountaineers with all the virtues and vices peculiar to 



