slavery vocabulary of Madagascar, suggests a loss of liberty or kinship (Molet, 1974). Others have referred more explicitly to the servile condition of their ancestors, indicating that they had been 'purchased' (novidiana) or were 'slaves' (andevo). ${ }^{2}$ The deportation of these ancestors from the continental mainland appears to have been relatively recent, as it took place during the nineteenth century, at a time when the settlement of the island was already established. All the East African captives imported and enslaved in Madagascar, as well as their descendants born on the island, were referred to under the generic terms of 'Masombika' or 'Makoa'. They derive their names from the Makhuwa, ${ }^{3}$ the most common sociolinguistic group in North Mozambique. The word 'Masombika' derives from the island's name and the port of Mozambique, the former capital of the Portuguese colony in East Africa and a major slave trafficking hub. It is possible to link the use of slave labour imported to the Great Island with the advent of the Kingdom of Madagascar. The Masombika introduced into this kingdom since the reign of King Radama I (Grandidier, 1877) were the subject of specific legislation which was intended to secure compliance with the agreement concluded with the leading sea power of the day, Great Britain. Under the terms of the treaty signed in 1817, and ratified in 1820, Great Britain agreed to recognize the sovereignty of Radama I over the Great Island in return for the renunciation of the export of slaves. This period marked the reversal of the major influx of slaves to Madagascar. Although exports showed a declining trend over the nineteenth century, imports of captives grew in significance, possibly reaching their peak during the 1860s and 1870s, a period of economic prosperity in the Kingdom of Madagascar (Campbell, 1989). During these decades, the prohibition of the slave trade was invoked by the treaty of 1865 concluded between London and Antananarivo