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- Shortly after their arrival, the rubber barons began their incursions, a bloody method of obtaining indigenous labour by which, with the support of already-conquered indigenous groups, they would make armed forays into nearby hamlets. They would capture women and youths in particular, who formed precious trading objects, whilst adult men were eliminated as they would never form as malleable a workforce as the children, who were more easily and fully assimilated In these circumstances, the high death rate and family disintegration caused panic among the mainly native populations, some of whom chose to flee. (en)
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