ABSTRACT
The oppression of ages has made the Karen reticent and very suspicious up to the point where he yields his confidence. If he thinks he can trust you, he passes at once from the extreme of suspicion to excessive confidence, and yields himself unconditionally. He knows no half-measure in this. A party of Karens once came to Dr. Vinton in Rangoon from the Cambodia. They had been shown his signature by a travelling teacher. When they came into the doctor’s house, they cautiously talked round the bush for a time, and no one could make anything of them. At last, professing a desire to see English writing, they asked Dr. Vinton to sign his name, and took it off to the end of the verandah, where they carefully compared it with what seemed to be a piece of dirty crumpled paper. Each line was studiously examined, till they were convinced that the two were identical. They flung down their swords and daggers, rushed to the doctor, and wrung his hands and arms with a true Karen welcome. The little bit of crumpled paper with Dr. Vinton’s signature had 138been jealously guarded by them all the long way from the Cambodia. When they found the man whose name it bore, their suspicions were completely disarmed, and they in an instant felt as much at home with him as if they had known him for years.
