It now became Mr. Judson’s duty to return to Maulmain. He had been absent thirteen months. The first part of that time had been spent in the futile effort to establish a mission at Prome, and the last part he had labored alone with native converts at Rangoon, distributing tracts, preaching the Gospel and translating the Scriptures. Mr. and Mrs. Wade had repaired to Rangoon soon after his return from Prome; but Mrs. Wade’s health had so completely broken down that it was thought best for her and her husband to take a voyage to America. The ship in which the Wades sailed was driven out of its course by violent gales, and at last put into a port on the coast of Arracan. Here Mrs. Wade’s health was so much improved that the idea of going to America was given up, and they returned to Maulmain instead. But, in the meantime, Mr. Judson’s presence seemed indispensable there. A new party of missionaries had arrived from America, including Mr. and Mrs. Mason, Mr. and Mrs. Kincaid, and Mr. and Mrs. Jones. The Masons had gone to Tavoy. Mr. Jones went to Rangoon to take Mr. Judson’s place, and the Kincaids were still staying at Maulmain.
When he returned to Maulmain, he saw much to delight his heart. The little church had been enlarged by the baptism of many Burmese, Karens, and Talings. Two millions of pages of tracts and translations of Scripture had been printed. The missionaries had also made repeated journeys into the jungle, where a church of fourteen members had been organized at a place called Wadesville, in honor of the missionary who had first preached the Gospel there. At the close of 1831, Mr. Judson reported on behalf of the Burman mission two hundred and seventeen persons as baptized during the year; one hundred and thirty-six at Maulmain, seventy-six at Tavoy, and five at Rangoon.
Soon after returning from Rangoon to Maulmain, he entered upon a new field of operations. Whenever his close confinement to the work of translation necessitated a change of air and scene, it was his custom to take a tour among the wild Karen tribes occupying the jungle back of Maulmain. His restless spirit was always longing to press into the interior of the country, and the great Irrawaddy valley being closed to him, there was nothing left but to penetrate Burmah by the Salwen and its tributaries, which constitute the second of the river systems by which the land is drained.
The Karens, as their very name indicates, were _wild_ men. They are distributed throughout Burmah, Siam, and parts of China, and number from two hundred thousand to four hundred thousand. They are, perhaps, the remnants of an aboriginal and subjugated race. They are looked down upon by the Burmese as inferiors. They speak a different language, and have distinct race characteristics. Mr. Boardman, who was their first missionary, thus describes them: