I sent my clerk with an interpreter to the Major of Keffing, the chief of part of that thickly populated island, to invite him on board, with promise of safe conduct, on which he came to the ship. I subsequently returned the visit of both chiefs at their villages, and was received with great state. The war had ceased from the moment of my arrival. On enquiry it appeared to me, that the people of Kilwari had been the aggressors, and it was arranged that they should pay a fine, on which I caused both parties to meet at the village of Kelu on Keffing, and reconciled them in the Ceramese mode. I was engaged until the 13th in deciding their differences, and although their state of civilization is higher than that of most of the tribes I visited during my previous voyage, the decision of disputes nowhere cost me more difficulty or required more patience. I will refrain from giving a full account of the causes of these disputes, as they would occupy too much space, and will merely give the outline. Several months previous to our arrival, the chiefs of Keffing and Kilwari fell out, the quarrel arising from mutual jealousy, which found vent in taunts, the usual mode in which the natives manage to create dissensions among themselves. They had already met with their flotillas of korra-korras, and had fought, after their manner, with great obstinacy and bloodshed. The people of Kilwari had been the attacking party, for which reason they were adjudged to pay a fine of two cannons, an elephant's tusk, and some other trifles. According to the custom of the Ceramese, the payment of a fine, coupled with an acknowledgment of having done wrong, puts an end to hostilities; the punishment for all sorts of offences, robbery, and even murder, being commutable to a payment of elephants' tusks, lelahs, gongs, cloth, &c. Some villages possess a peculiar hereditary right connected with the payment of fines, which are respected by the others. For example, as a fine for the same offence, Kilwari would pay to Keffing two _bagians_ or proportions, while Keffing would disburse to Kilwari only one _bagian_. All these usages are called _Adat Ceram_, and those who do not respect them draw upon themselves the enmity of all parties. Their differences are often settled by a meeting of the other chiefs; but such a devouring jealousy obtains among them, that nothing gives greater satisfaction than punishment inflicted by our Government on one of the parties. A threat made by me to call in the assistance of the neighbouring chiefs, and punish the Raja of Kilwari, if he continued obstinate, had the greatest effect upon him, and gave much satisfaction to the other chiefs.