Note 442 — Chapter II · GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SLAVERY.
Reading edition
Mason remarks on the Karens: “In war they kill without regard to age or sex.… The head of the war keeps the captives a considerable time, when, if none of their friends come to redeem them, he sells them off to other districts for oxen or buffaloes if practicable, that he may have an ox or a buffalo to give to each village that came to his aid”442. So the Karens seem to prefer oxen and buffaloes to captives. There are, however, many debtor-slaves among the Karen-Nees443. They are also noted for their kidnapping propensities; but it seems that the kidnapped are only intended for sale abroad444. At any rate there are debtor-slaves, and so slavery exists.