Page:Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje - The Achehnese - tr. Arthur Warren Swete O'Sullivan (1906).djvu/113

 once be done to wipe out the insult. To this end the injured party calls upon the authorities of his gampōng, and the latter summon all who are able to bear arms to help their brother. The party who has given the offence knows that he has this to expect, either from hearing the rumour of the preparations or because it is an obvious consequence that the offended one should not let the matter pass without meulangga. Here too the authorities of the gampōng are notified and prepare for resistance.

In due time the men of the offended gampōng appear in the vicinity of the other, and the keuchiʾ of the latter goes forth to meet the uninvited guests and after greeting them respectfully (seumbah) asks what they require. "We have come" they reply, "to uproot by force the trees and courtyard-fence of your fellow-villager X, by reason of the injury he has done to one of our people". Thereupon the other keuchiʾ says that he feels bound to acknowledge the fairness of the complaint, but that this just demand can be satisfied without having recourse to deeds of violence. The father of the offending community then brings to the other one or two plantain-stems from the courtyard and a glundōng-tree from the fence of the guilty party, saying "Here is what you ask for". Sometimes, where the injury is a very serious one, he grants them permission to enter upon the courtyard of the offenders and cut down a certain number of trees. Should the atonement offered by the keuchiʾ not suffice for the satisfaction of honour according to the adat controlling quarrels, long-continued hostilities between two neighbouring gampōngs may supervene; but for the most part the mediation effected under the auspices of the two keuchiʾs is found sufficient.

The day after this symbolical satisfaction the parties meet again to consult as to the guarantees for the establishment of peace. An idang of yellow gelatinous rice (bu kunyèt) and a piece of white cloth must without fail be offered by the offender for "cooling of the blood of others" (peusijuëʾ darah gòb) which he has shed, as the saying is. To this is often added a money present of some considerable amount.

This method of settling a quarrel is never applied to real cases of theft, adultery or homicide, or even of bodily hurt of a serious description. The wounds inflicted must be healed before recourse is had to meulangga.

If the injured party is a person of position or a member of the