RACE HATRED 219 to return to headquarters with the expedition ; but when a movement was made to depart, he was promptly surrounded by the young men, who detained him by force, fearing they never would see their virile leader again.

In many instances it is observable that the women exercise no mean voice in affairs, mostly in favour of preserving the status quo, and antagonistic to progress.

The story of the race hatred between the Dinkas and Nuers is worthy of being recorded.

Probably about the year 1870 a Nuer named Amer fell out with the rest of his tribe, and in revenge enlisted the assistance of the slave-raider Achmet Nasser, whose memory is perpetuated by the name of the post which he founded and retired to on the Sobat.

Amer guided the slavers to the home of his own tribe, with the result that his people disappeared from the face of the earth, saving those who were taken as slaves. The party then crossed to the east bank of the province of Gaweir, which is the farthest upstream Nuer district on the Zeraf, and marked the extreme limit of my journey. Amer exhibited all the characteristics of the renegade, and excelled the Arabs in cruelty. The people of Gaweir were invited to a conference, enticed into a zariba, which was set on fire, and many perished miserably.

On Nasser's retirement to the Sobat, the son of Amer emulated his father's behaviour, and