Keureuto — pronounced Kertó — is a river and a landschap of the onderafdeeling Lho Soekon in the afdeeling Noordkust van Atjeh. The river runs through the middle of the onderafdeeling and divides it in two; the landschap lies in the western, more fertile half, where the population is greater and the rice-plain is watered by the Keureuto.
The Division of the Onderafdeeling
The Keureuto divides the onderafdeeling Lho Soekon in two, and the two parts differ greatly in the nature of the land. The south-eastern half is all paja — swamp — with a population of fifteen thousand souls; the smaller northern half is free of it and counts twice the number of souls. The landschap of Keureuto itself lies in the western part of the onderafdeeling, in the hill-country where the memory of Christoffel’s expedition — the apitan rimoeeng, or tiger-captain — is still fresh.
The Oeléebalang
At Blang Djeroeën lives the oeléebalang of Keureuto, Teukoe Bentara Keureuto, whom Broersma describes as ‘een krachtig en kundig hoofd’ — a powerful and capable chief. He rules a large landschap and receives accordingly f 600 a month from the landschapskas in addition to f 125 for his car. He maintains a small lorry for the transport of persons and goods and fetches, for example, fish daily from the coast. His son attends the Mulo-school at Kota Radja.
The Five Unused Licences
There are also five licences in the landschap Keureuto which have not yet been opened — ‘nog geen spa in den grond gestoken’ — though the dues are already owed. ‘Met zulke bezoeken van «heet kapitaal» kan geen land zijn gediend’ — With such visits of «hot capital» no land can be served. The implication is that speculative land-licences, taken up by absentees who neither develop nor pay, are a curse to a landschap.
The Rice-Plain
The western part of the onderafdeeling, in which the landschap Keureuto lies, is a fertile rice-plain. There one plants in the rain-months of the late year, and in April or May the harvest is done. Although the usual yield of 20 picol of dry padi per bouw is not exceeded, some export can take place from this part of Lho Soekon. Broersma reckoned with the chief that a couple consumes seven picol of bras (rice) a year; the calculation was real reckoning, for such quantities are expressed in Atjeh in ‘bamboe’ — one bamboe being 2.5 katti of bras.
See Also
- Lho Soekon
- Blang Djeroeën
- Teukoe Bentara Keureuto
- Christoffel’s expedition to Keureuto (c. 1908)
- Paja Tjitjem
- Oeléebalang
- Bentara (title)
- Verkenningen in Atjeh (1923)
- 1908
Source
Verkenningen in Atjeh, by Dr. R. Broersma (De Locomotief, October 1923), chapter VIII, ‘Lho Soekon, licht en donker’, pp. 53–58.