The Chimpaw tribes, also called Kachin,
are numerous. They are the hill-people of
the Upper Irawadi and adjoining country. (See Mr. George's account, Census
Report 1 89 1.) They cut ianngya like the other hill-people. The Chimpaw have
the defects of the Karens without their virtues. But they have held their own
against their more civilised aggressors from the time of Shan dominion onwards,
with greater determination and success than any hill-people of the Peninsula.
Taungthu means hill-man ; but the race to which the Burmans give this
name has its nucleus in the Thatdn plain, where it musters 30,000. There is

a lesser nucleus, also called

That6n, in the Shan country
which, according to the latest
researches, was colonised from
Thatdn in Pegu and not vice
versa as had been supposed.
The Taungthus have main-
tained themselves distinct from
the Muns (Talaing), the masters
of Pegu, for five hundred years
or more. The men dress like
Shans. The women wear a
black thindding and londyi
much like the Chin, but with
red trimming instead of em- 352. karen girls fetching water.
156



BURMA




353. KAREN BRONZE DRUM (PAZi).
broidery and with red silk
tassels to the gaung-baung.
The Taungthus are expert
craftsmen in all the arts of
the Peninsula. They are
strict Buddhists and build
magnificent kyaungs in the
prevailing wood style ; these
exhibit a noticeable pecu-
liarity in their stone fences.
