Dinkas.The Dinka tribe thence occupy both banks of the river Sobat to about 32° 16′ east, villages of first Shilluks and then Dinkas being very numerous from the Sobat mouth up to this point, which is near the village of Lajak. They are shy and suspicious, but amenable to kindness and trade.
The Dinkas of the Sobat have been worsted in the frequent forays of the more powerful Nuers into their district. They complain bitterly of the spoliation of their herds by the Nuers, and state that many of their children, now growing into manhood as Nuers, were torn from them in the constant raids of the Nuer tribe. The Dinkas, in spite of this alleged oppression, own large numbers of sheep, goats, and cattle (vide details Appendix F, [p. 330]). The Dinkas on the Sobat are far more intelligent and energetic than their kinsmen on the White Nile, and cultivate sufficient grain and tobacco for their own needs.
For the most part the Dinka territory along the Sobat consists of open, treeless, grass plains. Fifteen to 20 miles east of Lajak the river banks are uninhabited until the small village of Ashel is reached, which is the commencement of a small tract of Anuak country, sandwiched in between the Dinkas in the west and the large and powerful Nuer tribe to the east.
Anuaks (west of Nasser).The small section of Anuaks referred to here only occupy some 25 to 30 miles of the river bank as far as the village of Wegin, which is the boundary between them and the Nuer tribe. The different tribes hereabouts are considerably intermingled, as they appear to intermarry[89] to a large extent, and Anuaks may be found living amongst the Nuers even as far east as Nasser. Their position would not, however, appear to be a very enviable one, as the men are more or less slaves of the Nuers, and are called upon to perform many household and menial duties for their more powerful neighbours; at the same time the Anuaks appear to have no fear of entering Nuer territory.
The chief villages of the Anuaks, between Ashel and Wegin on the left bank of the river, are Yakwoik, Fatiwanyang and Shwai. A friendly Sheikh, Aiwel Wad Agwot, lives at Fatiwanyang. He is constantly to be seen at Nasser Post, and also occasionally even at Kodok.
This section of the Anuaks is a small and unimportant one; in general appearance they closely resemble the Nuers. They appear to grow very little food, barely more than sufficient for their own requirements, but at the same time have flocks of sheep and goats and a few herds of cattle.
Their country is well wooded for the most part, and, from native accounts, numerous herds of elephants constitute a very real source of danger to travelling, more especially at night time. Game is plentiful on both banks of the river in December, 1899. Very little trade has been carried on with these natives, but a few goats and sheep can be purchased for brass wire; the price being about a 6-foot length of wire for a sheep. Latterly, however, since more intimate communication with Nasser Post has been established, the demand for cloth has increased.
Nuers (Sobat and baro).The Nuers are by far the most powerful and numerous tribe living along the Sobat river. Originally they appear, from native accounts, to have occupied tracts of country south of the Sobat in the neighbourhood of Bor and the Bahr El Ghazal, but these sections trekked north, and ousted the more weakly tribes living on the Sobat, and occupied their country. The Falangs and Bonjaks no longer exist, their territory being occupied by the Nuers. There appear to be three separate factions of Nuers at the present day occupying the Sobat valley, who, if native accounts are to be believed, are more or less at enmity with each other, owing to family disagreements. It is often difficult in consequence to get guides from one part of the country to enter that occupied by a rival section. For instance, Sheikh Jok’s people will not readily enter the territory of the Nuers in the neighbourhood of Nasser Post; whilst these again will refuse to proceed further east along the Baro than the village of Barrakwik.
The Nuer territory along the Sobat and Baro rivers extends from about east 32° 33′ to about 34° 10′. Their territory on the right bank of the Baro as far east as the Khor Garre[90] (33° 48′ approximately) belongs to the Sudan, whilst east of this khor and the whole of the left bank of the Baro belongs to Abyssinia. From Wegin village to Nasser Post the country is probably the finest occupied by the Nuers, as it is for the most part well wooded, and in places one passes through really beautiful park-like country. Villages are numerous, and several of the districts, such as Fauwel and Jurwel, are well cultivated. East of the Pibor their country bordering the Baro is a desolate marsh.
Although the huts and villages of the Nuers hereabouts are well and substantially built, the natives themselves are shy, suspicious, indolent and altogether a very low type of humanity. They appear to cultivate only such small plots of ground in the immediate vicinity of their villages as will suffice for their own requirements for perhaps six months in the year, whilst during the remainder of the year they live chiefly on fish, which, existing in great quantities, are easily speared during the dry season of the year. They do not appear to hunt at all.