ACHEEN, or Ac HEN, called likewise ../chri, from it tree of that name which is peculiar to it, is a kingdom in the north-west of Sum.ttrna, and is the only pat t of that island which ever rose to couch importance as to become the subject of history. It is of small extent, stretching, about 50 miles inland, and little more even on the coast, containing about 2600 square miles. its climate, com pared with that of the rest of the island, is healthy ; as it has fewer swamps and woods. The soil is very fertile, producing, besides delicious ft nits, abundance of rice and cotton, and a little raw silk of inferior quality. Gold dust is found in the mountains, and sulphur is procured in con siderable quantities from a volcano in tIst icinity of the capital.
On a liver flowing into the sea near the north-west point, which is called ...kin is situated the ca pital, about two miles from the coast. When the Por tuguese first landed on the island, about the beginning of the 16th century, it was under the dominion of the king of Pedir, and commanded by a slave as governor ; one uf these slaves rebelled against the king., and established Acheen as the metropolis of his kingdom. The valley in which it stands is surrounded, in the form of an am phitheatre, by two lofty ranges of hills ; and the town itself rises in the middle of a forest of cocoa-trees. Ac cording to Chantreaux, it is situat-d in Long. 35' East, and Lat. 5° 10' North. It contains about 800 houses, which are built of bamboos and rough tinther, and raised to the he igld or some feet from the ground ; for in the rainy season the whole country is o rtiowed. Neither wall nor moat surrounds the town ; tut the king's palace, a rude and uncouth edifice. stands in the centre, and is about a mile and half in cireumference, is encompassed by strong walls, and a noel fltet deep. Near the palace-gate are several pieces of brass ordnance. of prodigious size. Some of these were made in Poitu gal ; two of them were sent to the• king of Achcen, James I. of England. and their (late and f name are still visible ; the bore of one of them is 13 inches, of the other 9:2 inches in diameter. Besides the native Achenesc, this town is inhabited by Duch. Danes, Por tuguese, Guzarats, and Chinese ; the latter of Y:f101,11 arc most numerous, and early on a considerable trade. 'FM; inhabitants have an extensive manufacture of thick cotton cloth, and of stuff for trowsers, worn by the Malays and Achenese. They weave likewise very handsome silks of a particular make ; though this manufacture is now on the decline, owing to the degeneracy of the silk-worms. The Achenese are bold and expert navigators ; and carry on an extensive trade with the district of Telinga, on the coast of l-Iindostan. The articles which they ex port, are gold-dust, Japan-wood, betel-nut, patch-leaf, or coshes indieus, pepper, sulphur, camphor, and benzoin ; in return for which, they receive the cotton goods of India. They are supplied by the European traders, with Bengal opium, iron, and various other commodities.
The Achenese differ considerably from the rest of the Sumatrans. in person, they :SIT taller, stouter, and of darker complexion ; in disposition, they are more active and industrious, more sagacious and penetrating. They profess the Mahometan religion : their mosques and priests are numerous ; and they adhere with rigid exact ness to the forms and ceremonies prescribed in the Alco ran. Their government is a hereditary monarchy, which is more or less arbitrary, according to the talents and disposition of the reigning prince, whom they call TU1171 kite, or my master. His council consists of four no blemen, called OcloobagganR, with eight of inferior or der, who sit on the right hand of the throne ; and six teen, named Csjoorung., who are seated on the left. A woman sits at the feet of the king, to whom he com municates whatever ideas occur to him during the deli beration ; she cons evs them to an eunuch near her, by whom they arc transmitted to an officer, who proclaims them aloud to the whole assembly. The throne was for merly made of ivory, and tortoise-shell ; and when queens reigned, a curtain of gauze was drawn round it to conceal them from view. Strangers or merchants obtain an au dience by offeking presents to the king and his officers. An European, before entering the royal palace, is obliged to take off his shoes. A stranger, after being introduced, is sumptuously entertained in a separate building, and re turns in the evening, attended by a number of people with lighted torches in their hands. On high days, the king, mounted on an elephant richly caparisoned, proceeds in state to the great mosque, preceded by officers armed after the lashion of Europeans. The laws of Acheen are extremely severe. Petty theft is punished by suspending the criminal from a tree, or cutting off a finger, hand, or leg, according to the nature of the crime. Robbers and housebreakers are punished by drowning, and their bo dies are exposed for some days on a stake. If an imaum, or priest, be robbed, the sacrilegious offender is burned alive. Adultery is punished in a very singular manner. The criminal is delivered up to the injured husband and his relations, who form a circle round him. A large wea pon is then presented to him by one of his own friends, and, if he can cut his way through the circle, he is free from all farther prosecution ; but if he fall by the swords of his adversaries, as generally happens, he is refused the usual rites of sepulture. Yet these sanguinary laws only indicate the weakness of government, and the general depravity of the people ; evils which they tend rather to increase, than to correct. Where crimes of every des cription are punished with indiscriminating severity, the people, familiarized with the sight of torture and death, become hardened in iniquity. Japan and Acheen afford striking proofs of the inefficacy of rigorous institutions, in improving the public morals. No where are tic penal ties of guilt more dreadful ; yet no W he re arc the people more Hogitious. (k)