One example of the latter situation dates back to 1880, when eleven boys were inappropriately included in a shipment of engagés from Ngazidja (Grande Comore) to Mayotte for several sugar plantations on the French island colony. These children were temporarily assigned by French authorities to the missionaries at Dzaoudzi because of 'the irregularity of the recruitment', which is to say that they were too young to have freely agreed to work as contract labourers. ${ }^{4}$ With the exception of one who was from Ngazidja, the boys - whose ages ranged from 8 to 14 years - all originally came from Mozambique. Each had been assigned a common Muslim 'slave' name by the recruiter, although in the short interviews conducted by French authorities, several were able to recall their original names (Prestholdt, 2008, p. 122). ${ }^{5}$ The question-and-answer format of the French interviews do not leave much room for individual voices, but they do reveal the means by which each boy came to be enslaved. According to one, Ktéa, his parents had sold him to an African slaver. Moanner, who had been given the name of Cazambo \#1, had been stolen from his parents' home. Cazambo \#2 could not recall his family name and stated that his parents had sold him. Cazambo \#3 stated that his real name was Jamloukou and indicated that he had been captured 'during the war'. Monyono, named Ouledi by the recruiter, said that he too had been seized 'in the war', as did both Michijaoué (renamed Canabois) and Mipazona (renamed Mabrouck \#2); perhaps these four boys had fallen victim to the same conflict in Mozambique. According to Kouara,  
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[^0]:    2 Anti-Slavery Reporter, Vol. 15, No. 99 (16 September 1867), in Beachey, 1976, p. 92.
3 A.B. Grenfell, 11 April 1893, Foreign Office: Confidential Print, in Beachey, 1976, pp. 99-100.
4 Centre des Archives d'Outre-Mer (CAOM), Aix-en-Provence, Madagascar 269, d.602, [Edouard] Sasias, Acting Commandant, Mayotte, 13 January 1880. I am indebted to Dr. Klara Boyer-Rossol for sharing this invaluable documentation with me.
5 Attachment to ibid.