The Loyal Karens of Burma. By D. McKenzie Smeaton. (Kegan
Paul and Co.)—Mr. Smeaton, of the Bengal Civil Service, has taken great pains to present to his readers a strong and effective case for the Karens, a race which is generally considered to have migrated from Tibet into China, and then gradually to have worked down to their present quarters. Officialdom, with its usual unreflecting seem of natives, snubbed and sneered at their loyalty and scouted their fighting qualities in '52, ignoring the help of valuable auxiliaries by refusing to supply them with arms. The armament of native tribes involves a great responsibility, and Civil Servants, enveloped as they often are in red-tape and ignorance, are hard to convince, and aggravating to those whose means of information are superior. The national customs, folk-lore, and religion of the Karens are such as to cause many to identify them with one of the lost tribes ; certainly their manners and morals are those of a refined and intelligent race.
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