(42)
territory are in the extreme north-eastern corner of the Northern Shan States, in areas which were either omitted from the census operations or "estimated" only. The main feature of the Miaotzu women's dress are the pleated kilt and the jacket with what resembles a sailor collar. The Yao are remarkable for their female coiffure, which has been compared loan " exaggerated mortar board."
A tribe which for want of more specific data the present writer has placed in the Mon Khmer category is that of the Danaws, a now almost extinct community found in the north-western portion of the Southern Shan States (vide page 562 of the Upper Burma Gazetteer, Part I, Volume I). They are not to be confused with the Danus—though possibly, like the latter, they are only hybrids—and their language is somewhat amorphous. It, however, contains a not inconsiderable number of Mon Khmer words, and it is on the strength of this element in its composition that the Danaws (who in 1901 numbered 635 in all) have been classed provisionally with the Palaungs, the Riangs and the Was of the Shan States, There is nothing in the outward appearance of the Danaws to distinguish them from the Shans among whom they live. It is stated that the women used formerly to wear a short thindaing and petticoat like the Taungthus and Taungyos. This is not a usual form of Mon Khmer dress, but the Yanghseks afford an example of its adoption by a tribe of Mon Khmer origin, and there is nothing intrinsically improbable in the statement. There seems no likelihood of the Danaws' origin being ever finally established now.
