# From bondage to the inland slave trade  
Slavery in Madagascar underwent continuous change as a result of developments in the slave trade. The demand for slaves generated by foreign traders clearly brought about a fundamental change in the methods of enslavement employed by the Malagasy people. Until around 1750, the number of enslaved people involved in maritime trade was fairly limited. Inland enslavement was sufficient to meet demand, which was fed by the slave trade among the people of Madagascar. Few were subjugated for exportation. This changed with the arrival of the French and the increased demand for captives that ensued (Thiébaut, 2018). The growth in regular trade rapidly outstripped the capacity of the Malagasy people to supply it, thereby encouraging local traders to import enslaved Africans from the East African coast to the Mascarene Islands, via Madagascar.  
A number of historians have highlighted the strong tradition of desertion in Madagascar (Campbell, 2007). This appears to be confirmed by contemporary sources: Europeans arriving in Madagascar report that desertions on land were fairly widespread and occurred mostly on the island itself. Enslaved domestic workers would generally flee as soon as they suspected that they were about to be sold to the Europeans (Journal of the Huis ten Donk, 24 June 1733. Nationaal Archief (NA), VOC/2266; Gerbeau, 2013, p. 43). In 1663, the Dutchman Jochem Blank observed that the Malagasy people sold their slaves 'with great caution, in the fear that others would flee to an enemy, if one slave was sold' (Blank, Rapport, s.d.n.l. NA, VOC/3998).