Page:Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje - The Achehnese Vol II. - tr. Arthur Warren Swete O'Sullivan (1906).djvu/55

 Another charm for turning aside the enemy's bullets is a cocoanut with one "eye" (u sabòh mata) worn about the body. Another keubay-specific is a piece of rattan some sections of which are turned the wrong way. Malém Diwa was so fortunate as to find such an awé sungsang, as it is called, of such length that he was able to fasten it under his shoulders round breast and back. Nowadays such freaks of nature are only to be found of the length of a couple of sections.

Certain peculiar spots on the skin, generally caused by disease, are also held to be signs or causes of invulnerability. Such for instance are the white freckles known as glum, which remain as scars upon the skin after a certain disease. This disease, (called glum or leuki) is said to begin between the fingers and in the region of the genitals and to cause violent irritation. It is supposed to be infectious. Malém Diwa had seven glums of the favourite shape known as glum bintang or bungòng. Such marks are considered by the Achehnese to enhance the personal beauty of both sexes.

A sort of ring-worm called kurab beusòë or iron kurab, which manifests tself in large rust-coloured and intensely itching spots on the body, is supposed to confer invulnerability, especially if it forms a girdle around the waist. This disease is also very infectious. When it begins to declare itself, the patient is asked by his friends whether he has been having recourse to a duʾa beusòë ("iron prayer"), as it is supposed that the kurab beusòë can be brought about by the mysterious craft connected with iron.

Where so much depends on the efficacy of weapons as in Acheh, it is not surprising that the èleumèë which teaches how to distinguish good weapons from bad is regarded as of high importance. This art has been to a great extent (though with certain modifications) adopted from the Malays. The Achehnese regard the Malays of Trengganu and the Bugis as the great authorities on the subject.

The forger of weapons has his special èleumèë, which according to our European notions would contribute exceedingly little to the value of their wares, though the Achehnese think quite the contrary. Equally