Toekoe Mahmoed was the Acehnese chief of the kampong complex surrounding Kroeng Raba on the west coast of Groot-Atjeh, described by P. H. R. Beuming as well disposed towards the Dutch and as the man whose vertrouwen inboezemende houding — confidence-inspiring attitude — made life at the benting Lho-Nga pleasant for soldiers and Acehnese alike at the end of 1896.
The quiet of late 1896
Beuming records that in the closing months of 1896 the landscape of Kroeng Raba was unusually quiet, which he ascribed chiefly to the vigorous pursuit of Toekoe Oemar after the three-day battle in the Beradin pass. The population, weary of the adventurer’s pressure, returned to the kampongs and resumed field labour.
It was through Toekoe Mahmoed’s attitude, Beuming writes, that life at Lho-Nga could be called truly pleasant for both parties: men bewoog zich vrijer onder elkander; geen wanklank werd gehoord — men moved more freely among one another; no discordant note was heard. It was in consequence of this peaceable state that the garrison commander eventually permitted the soldiers to bathe in the nearby kali, the practice that led to the crocodile encounter.
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Source
Schetsen uit den strijd op Groot-Atjeh, met speciaal vervaardigde kaart en toepasselijke photo’s, bewerkt door P. H. R. Beuming, oud-onderofficier van het Ned.-Indische Leger (Amsterdam, December 1911; uitgegeven ten bate van het te stichten Herstellingsoord voor Rijks-Ambtenaren). Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen, Br N 82-144
Acknowledgement of sources. The material in this article derives from Schetsen uit den strijd op Groot-Atjeh, met speciaal vervaardigde kaart en toepasselijke photo’s, bewerkt door P. H. R. Beuming, oud-onderofficier van het Ned.-Indische Leger (Amsterdam, December 1911). Dutch passages are quoted in the original with an English rendering.