The outcome of these desertions remains unclear. It would appear that resistance was sometimes short-term, as was the case on the Mascarene Islands and the Cape during harvest time. Some deserters may have become bandits (Campbell, 2007, pp. 49-59). It is also probable that a number of enslaved people failed to survive their escape attempts. On the Brak, 13 captives succeeded in freeing themselves from their shackles and attempted to overpower their guard before jumping overboard. Six were recaptured and whipped, and the others were presumed drowned (Journal of the Brak, 19 July 1742. NA, VOC/10813). In 1752, on the Schuilenburg:  
In de gepasserde nagt sig 8 slaavinnen, naar den anderen boven komende onder schijn van haar behoef te sullen doen, en stilte, door behulp van een stellagie die buijten boort voor den timmerman om te calvaaten hing, hadden te water begeeven, met voorneemen om naar land te swemmen, dog dat zij door haa geplof in 't water sig hadden doen ontdekken, en daar op met de schuijt afterhaald en tot 4 na waaren opgevischt, zijnde naar alle vermoeden de 4 absent gebleevene, door de serpentgaande stroom, ten eersten onder water getrocken en verdronken. [Last night, eight female slaves got up, on the pretext of needing to defecate, but took to the water using a structure arranged on the exterior of the vessel, in an attempt to swim to the coast. They were given away by noise, and four were recaptured using the rowboat. The other four were never recovered, and probably drowned in the strong currents] (Journal of the Schuilenburg, 24 October 1752, NA, VOC/10815).  
In 1764, on the Nouvelle Julie, four captives out of a cargo of 103 deserted. They used a knife to cut their shackles and were able to go on deck around