Another form of maritime desertion involved stowing away on a vessel. This was a very common problem in the Dutch Cape Colony, and Governor W.A. van der Stel made attempts to limit it in 1705 (Ross, 1983, p. 73). Numerous examples of maritime desertion are recorded, including the case of Jan van der Caab, who was able to settle in Middelburg in the Netherlands, and marry a woman from the Dutch province of Zeeland. ${ }^{23}$ Further examples can be found in the Mascarene Islands, such as the case of a person named Jouan who was able to escape to Pondichéry by posing as a black freeman, although few details are available. ${ }^{24}$ In another case, an enslaved Malagasy person claimed to be a freeman and demanded his freedom (Ève, 2010, pp. 76-80).  
The Mascarene authorities introduced severe penalties in order to prevent desertion in all its forms. In 1710, two enslaved Malagasy people were hanged for mutiny on Île de Bourbon (Parat, Memoir of the Isle of Bourbon, s.l., 22 December 1710. ANOM, COL, C3/3, f. 82-131). The Code Noir (Black Code) of 1723 stipulated that, for a first offence of desertion, the ears would be cut off,  
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[^0]:    20 Notariële verklaring (Notarial statement), The Cape, 3 October 1709. 1/STB 18/155. Worden and Groenewald 2005, pp. 18-19.
21 In 1790, a rowboat was recovered, carrying 26 runaways who had died of starvation (Payet 1990, pp. 57-58).
22 Declaration of arrival of the Bonne Therese, Port-Louis, 11 October 1791. MNA, OB/23, No. 551. Declaration of Hiquet and Pastoureau, Foulpointe, 28th frimaire, year IV (17 December 1795). MNA, HB/8, p. 10; letter from Dumaine to the administrators, Foulpointe, 27 September 1790. MNA, HB/1, s.f.
23 Criminal register, The Cape, 18 February 1751. Worden and Groenewald, 2005, pp. 286-287; Ross, 1983, p. 78.
24 Order of the Council of the Ile-de-France, Ile-de-France, 27 April 1766. ANOM, COL, C4/16, f. 48-48v. Vaughan, 2001, pp. 41-80.