There are numerous examples of this practice in the eighteenth century. At Fort-Dauphin in 1706, upon the arrival of a Dutch vessel, enslaved people fled into the forest (Journal of the Ter Aa, 20/16/1706, NA, VOC/4057). At Assada in 1762, 'all the slaves within the chief's territory deserted, for fear of being transported out of the country' (Letter from Cap to Heren XVII, 5 April 1763. NA, VOC/4229, s.f.) and, in 1774, the commander of the Zon reported that the chief's enslaved people, almost all of whom were working in the paddy fields, fled for fear of being sold to the Dutch (Journal of the Zon, 18-20 September 1774. NA, VOC/4277). A revolt also occurred in 1768, when the French adventurer known as 'La Bigorne' fought alongside the Malagasy people 'against their revolting slaves, having been promised a substantial reward, both for himself and for the S. Glemet' (Letter from Clonard, s.d.n.l. Archives nationales d'outre-mer (ANOM), COL, C4/25, s.f.).  
It is not known how frequent these revolts were. Enslaved people often deserted the Europeans while the vessel was still at shore (Mayeur, 1913, pp. 139-176). They also had the support of the Malagasy people: at Fort-Dauphin in 1804, a young captive escaped from the masters and, in 1775, five enslaved people, who were to be sold from the Ramioure, escaped during the night (Mayeur, 1913, pp. 93-156). In 1807, the slave vessel Chardenoux lost sixteen captives by desertion during its voyage to the interior, of whom only three were recaptured (Journal of the Chardenoux, 18 November 1807. BMC, Decaen/102, p. 171). Some deserted while on board vessels: in 1732, one captive succeeded in launching a rowboat from the Hirondelle and was never recaptured and, on the Duc d'Anjou at Fort-Dauphin in 1738, 'we lost a deserting negro and negress, who jumped overboard entirely without our knowledge' (Journal of the Duc d'Anjou, 14 October 1738 and Journal of the Hirondelle, 24 September 1732. Archives nationales (AN), MAR, 4JJ/76, p. 23, and 4JJ/86, p. 14).