TO THE COURT OF AVA. 
93 
CHAPTER IV. 
Different tribes inhabiting the Burman territory.—Burmese—- 
their physical form—customs—dress—progress in the useful 
arts—in higher branches of knowledge—kalendar—-epochs— 
weights and measures—navigation and geography—language 
and literature—religion. 
The extensive area of the Burman territory is 
inhabited by many distinct nations, or tribes, of 
whom I have heard not less than eighteen enume¬ 
rated. The most considerable of these are the 
proper Burmans, the Peguans or Talains, the Shans 
or people of Lao, the Cassay, or more correctly 
Kathe, the Zabaing, the Karian, correctly called 
Karens, the Kyens, the Yo, and the Lawa. These 
are numerous and civilized, nearly in the order in 
which I have enumerated them. Differing as they 
do in language, and often in manners, customs, 
and religion, they have, with distinctions not al¬ 
ways perceptible to a stranger, the same physical 
type. This is the common type of all the tribes 
which lie between Hindostan and China. In this 
respect they differ widely from the Chinese and 
