e and their original
Paganism. Such are some of the Lau. _Mutatis mutandis_, the same applies
to the next family.

This is the _Burmese_, to which both the Avans and the Kariens belong;
but as it has been already stated that the divisions under
consideration are by no means of equal value, the two branches will be
considered separately.

3. _The Avans._--_Avan_ is a more convenient term than _Burmese_,
inasmuch as it is more definite; the _Burmese Empire_ containing not
only very distant members of the great _Burmese_ family, but also
populations which belong to other groups. _Ava_, on the other hand, is
the centre of the dominant division.

Whether the _Mon_, or a family yet to be mentioned, represent the
aborigines of _Maulmein_, it is certain that the Avans of that country
are of comparatively recent introduction.

Again, whether the _Tha'y_, or a family yet to be mentioned, represent
the aborigines of _Tenasserim_, it is certain that the Avans of that
country are of comparatively recent origin.

Nevertheless, there are Avans in each; and in Maulmein, although the Mon
preponderate in number, they all are able to speak the language of their
conquerors. I say _conquerors_, because the Avans are for all the parts
south of 18 deg. North lat., an intrusive population: the end of the
eighteenth century being the date, when, under Alompra, an Avan or
Umerapura dynasty broke up and subjected, in different degrees, the Mon
and Tha'y populations to the south, as well as several others more akin
to itself on the east, west, and north.

The kingdom of Ava, next to those of China and Siam, best represents the
civilization of those families whose tongue is monosyllabic. This
implies that it has an organized polity, a lettered language, and a
Buddhist creed; in other words that the influences of either China or
India have acted on it. Of these two nations it is the latter which has
most modified the Indianized members of the great Burmese stock. In
strong contrast with these is the fourth and last branch of the
_continental_ population for the provinces in question, the

4. _Karien._--The Kariens are partially independent; chiefly pagan; and
their language, belonging to the same class with the Avan, is
unlettered. They are the first of a long list.

Their geographical distribution is remarkable, like that of the Tha'y.
Its direction is north and south; its dimensions linear, rather than
broad; and it bears nearly the same