# On-board revolts  
The slave voyage was a critical factor in determining the fate of enslaved people. Revolts on board ships were a major source of worry and a constant threat (Medeiros, 2003, pp. 53-80). Unlike onshore desertions, on-board revolts were a display of common resistance. To protect against this threat, detachments of soldiers were often deployed on slave ships. ${ }^{3}$ On vessels used in the transatlantic slave trade, it was customary to carry a larger crew (Richardson, 2003, p. 202; Martin, 1993, p. 34). It is often assumed that the same went for the slave trade in Madagascar. However, there is no evidence of this practice on private vessels in the second half of the eighteenth century. They sailed with fairly limited crews and without soldiers, which put them at considerable risk. In one case, a  
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[^0]:    1 A further slave was recaptured, 'with his entire back rubbed raw by his efforts to escape through a porthole'. Dispatches from the Nouvelle Julie, May-August 1764. ANOM, COL. E/101, s.f.
2 In 1686, the Jambi experienced no fewer than four desertions, both from the vessel and from the palisades: Resolutions of the Jambi, 14/24. 8 and 15 September 1686. NA, VOC/4023, s.f.
3 Instructions for the Binnenwizzend, Batavia, 23 April 1732. NA, VOC/985, s.f.; Letter from Pondichéry to Bourbon, s.d.n.l. ANOM, COL, C2/74, f. 286. The Vierge de Grâce carried two officers and 22 soldiers for its expedition, whereas the Fuhcy carried 28. Journal of the Vierge de Grâce, 12 July 1733 and the Journal of the Fuhcy, 1 February 1743. AN, MAR, 4JJ/86, p. 15 and 4JJ/76, p. 30. Letter from Rose to Courtoys, Île-de-France, 1 September 1753. De Boisanger and de La Bourdonnaye-Blossac 2008, pp. 45-54.  
revolt broke out aboard the brig Bons Amis, which had only five white sailors on board (Declaration of arrival of the Bons Amis, Port Louis, 26 December 1790. MNA, OB/28, No. 549).