Page:Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje - The Achehnese - tr. Arthur Warren Swete O'Sullivan (1906).djvu/57

 According to the Moslim law children born of such unions are the slaves of the owner of the mother, for when the question is one of slavery or freedom the children follow the mother as a matter of course. The Achehnese adat, on the other hand, treats them as free; but their origin is indicated by the name aneuʾ meuïh ("children of gold", i. e. of proprietorship), and thus not at once lost sight of. A generation or two later the name aneuʾ meuïh is dropped, and their descendants become Achehnese.

Children born of marriages between slaves (generally of the same master) are themselves slaves in Acheh; but many owners set their slaves free in later life. Such free Niasese do not except in rare cases intermarry with Achehnese women; their children, however, may take wives of mixed Achehnese and Niasese descent, and in the third generation they too are Achehnese, though with a slight Nias taint.

Those who can only keep one or two male slaves generally let these remain unmarried their whole life long, the supposition being that they will find frequent opportunities of intercourse with their own countrywomen.

The Achehnese are on their own confession indolent and little fitted for regular work. This is the reason they give for the occasional importation of rice into a country possessing vast tracts of uncultivated ground. There is no doubt that in days gone by they used to get their work done for them by the Niasese. Not only did they employ them for ordinary tillage and for pepper cultivation, but also as soldiers in the endless little wars that divided the country against itself. Thus it is said that during the civil war of 1854–58 of between Raja Sulòyman (Suléman) and his guardian Raja Ibrahim, the supporters of the latter in particular usually employed Niasese to carry out all operations against the enemy.

In comparison with the Niasese, the number of slaves of other races in Acheh is inconsiderable. Male Bataks (but very seldom females)