1 His true or correctly spelt Malagasy name is yet unknown. In 1770 Revenoe succeeded his father as king of Toulier (Tulear). ARA, VOC 4261, fol. 166–222. Dagregister Zon 1770–1771.

2 VOC 4187, fol. 230–312. Dagregister Schuylenburg 1752–1753. A copy can be found in: VOC 10814.

3 VOC 4187, fol. 230–312. Dagregister Schuylenburg 1752–1753.

4 Several studies have been published on the peoplement andpopulation of the Great Island and of the small islands surrounding it, and they may be useful in understanding who exactly were the Malagasy people encountered by the Dutch. For an overview of the different theories on origins and the national contradictions, see: Marchal, W., ‘A Survey of Theories on the Early Settlement of Madagascar’ in: Evers, S. and Spindler, M. eds, Cultures of Madagascar: Ebb and Flow of Influences (Leiden 1995) 29–34Google Scholar; A. Roca Alvarez, ‘Ethnicity and Nation in Madagascar’ in: ibid., 67–83.

5 Armstrong, James C., ‘Madagascar and the Slave Tradein the Seventeenth Century’ in: Omaly sy Anio (Hier et aujourd'hui) 17/20 (1983–1984) 211–233Google Scholar; ‘MalagasySlave Names in the Seventeenth Century’ in: ibid., 43–59.

6 Grandidieretal, A.., Collection des Ouvrages Anciens Concernant Madagascar (COACM) (Paris 1903–1920).Google Scholar

7 Armstrong, ‘Madagascar and the Slave Trade’, 213.

8 JamesJ. Ravell, ‘The VOC Slave Trade Between Cape Town and Madagascar’ (An interim report, March 1978) dactylo. TheSouth African historian James Ravell prematurely passed away in 1994, as he had just returned to his mother country after long years of exile in Europe and America.

9 C. Allibert, ‘Les Hollandais à Madagascar’ in: Evers and Spindler eds, Cultures of Madagascar, 87–99; R. Barendse, ‘Slaving on the Malagasy coast 1640–1700’ in: ibid., 137–155; G. Ratoandro, ‘Madagascar vue des Pays-bas depuis les freres De Houtman’ in: ibid., 101–116.

10 It is part of a project for an inventory of documents concerning Madagascar to be found in Dutch Archives (concentrating mainly on the VOC-archives), within the framework of an interuniversity agreement between the University of Leiden and the University of Antananarivo.

11 The extracts from the official letters and reports addressed by theGovernor-General and Councillors of India (or High Government) to the ‘Heren XVII’ (Gentlemen XVII) between 1610 and 1750 were published in nine volumes: W.Ph. Coolhaas and J. van Goor eds, Generate Missiven van Gouverneurs-Generaal en Raden aan Heren XVIIder Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (GM) in: Rijks GeschiedkundigePublicatien (RGP), XI Volumes, Grote Serie: 104, 112, 125, 134, 150, 159, 164, 193, 205, 232 (Vol. X will appear after Vol. XI) (The Hague 1960–1997). In his introduction to Vol. 1 the editor warns the reader about the subjective and narrow scope of his selection of the excerpts to be printed or summarized, the manuscripts being composed of 120,000 folio's of which, according to his calculations, he could only publish about l/16th. Although ‘High Government’ implies a collective elaboration of the letters and reports, the authors assume with some caution that the greatest responsibility rested upon the Governor-General whose signature is the first to appear on a Generale Missive, and who necessarily was most influential. Some of these letters have been published in translated editions, among which one of the best known is: Grandidier, COACM. It has long been a valuable reference work, and the translations deserve to be revised.

12 The slave trade seems to have aroused general interest among scholars for the last few years. The study of past and contemporary forms ofslavery has triggered off the desire to look back on the human trade forever linked with the history of mankind and the subject can never beexhausted. The most important move was made by UNESCO with its Slave Route-project of which the final report was produced in January 1997. The latest follow-up conference took place in Paris in September 1998. Among other international conferences on the subject of slavery and slave trade, special mention must be made of the conference organized bythe University of Antananarivo, Madagascar, September 1996, and the other one organized by the University of Toamasina, Madagascar, September 1999. The authors wish to thank two participants in that latest conference: Dr G. Ratoandro and Dr R. Barendse, for their advice and comments on earlier drafts of this paper.

13 Meilink-Roelofsz, M.A.P., Raben, R. and Spijkerman, H., The Archives of the Dutch East India Company, 1602–1795 (The Hague 1992) 18–26, 47–55.Google Scholar

14 This article merely means to be an ‘interim report’. The inventory of the Cape of Good Hope OB/klocuments dealing about Madagascar (1652–1786) has not been completed yet. Later on, the sources dating from the first half of the seventeenth century, sent over from Batavia to the Netherlands, will be surveyed. Dr Robert Ross kindly provided us with a list of ships' names he came across during his own research in the Cape OBP records that served us as a guide.

15 Gerard Reynst was Governor-General from 6 November 1614 to 7 December 1615.

16 This part of the letter is reproduced in: GM I, Reynst II, 46.

17 Ibid., 47.

18 Ibid., 50, Sada (now Ampasidava) and Mangeladge (now Mahajamba) -diversity spelt ‘Magelagy, Mangelagij, Magelasij, Magalage’ in other letters in the GM- are areas situated around two bays on the west coast of Madagascar. They often appear in ancient European documents and their exact location varies according to the writers.

19 Governor-General Cornelis van der Lijn was in office from 9July 1645 to 18January 1650. He signed eleven letters as Governor-General.

20 GM II, Van der Lijn I, 270.

21 Mr Joan Maetsuycker was in office as Governor-General for the longest period: 18 May 1653 - 4January 1678. He signed eighty-three letters. The Company started with the exploration of the Sillida (Salida) mines in 1671. See: Barendse, ‘Slaving on the Malagasy Coast’, 142.

22 GM XV, Maetsuycker LXXXI (summary of the passage) 161.

23 GM IV, Maetsuycker LXXXIII, 208.

24 Rijckloff van Goens was Governor-General from 4 January 1678 to 25 November 1681. He signed twenty-one letters.

25 GM XV, Van Goens VII (summary of the passage) 284.

26 GM IV, Van Goens IX (summary of the passage) 311.

27 GM IV, Van Goens XI, 349.

28 The Spanish real was valued at forty-eight stivers. The silver Mexican real, being more than five per cent heavier than the Spanish real, was valued at fifty and a half stivers. This was more than twice the price the Voorhout three years earlier had paid for slaves; see page 57.

29 GM XV, Van Goens XI, 364.

30 GM XV, Van Goens XVIII, 464.

31 Ibid., 465.

32 Ibid.

33 Cornelis Speelman was Governor-General from 26 November 1681 to 11 January 1684. In such a comparatively short time he sent ten letters to the ‘Heren XVII’, characterized by remarkable precision.

34 GM XV, Speelman VIII, 556.

35 GM XV, Speelman XI, 31 December 1683, 639.

36 Joannes Camphuys was Governor-General from 11 January 1684 to 24 September 1691. His eight letters while in office contain the most detailed information about the trade and the geography of Madagascar.

37 GM XV, Camphuys IV, 726.

38 For the destinations of Malagasy slaves in the seventeenth century see: Barendse, ‘Slaving on the Malagasy Coast’, 140–144.

39 GM XV, Camphuys IV, 744.

40 GMV, Camphuys X, 16.

41 GMV, Camphuys XI, 24.

42 Ibid.

43 GMV, Camphuys XIII, 23 December 1687, 136, 144.

44 Ibid., note that the Dutch writer used the French spelling for the name of the island, situated of the north western coast of Madagascar. Was French predominant in Malagasy cartography then?

45 GMV, Camphuys XV, 13 March 1688 (summary of passage) 180.

46 GM V, Camphuys XIII (summary of passage) 145.

47 GMV, Camphuys XXI, 14 March 1690 (summary) 365.

48 Ibid., 370.

49 Ibid.

50 Willem van Outhoorn was Governor-General from 24 September 1691 to 15 August 1704, and signed fifteen letters in that capacity.

51 GMV, Van Outhoorn VII, 645, IX, 706, X, 731.

52 Ibid., 731.

53 Pieter van Dam, ‘The Slave Trade of the Company’ in his: Beschrijvinge van de Oostindische Compagnie (Description of the East India Company), (written in about 1700) in: RGP&8 (The Hague 1929) 653.

54 See: VOC 3997, fol. 646–666. Original missive Governor Zacharias Waghenaer and Council to ‘Heren XVII’, Cape of Good Hope, 16 May 1663. The flute Waterhoen was sent to Madagascar to buy slaves and rice. Armstrong, ‘Madagascar and the SlaveTrade’, 211–233; Barendse, ‘Slaving on the Malagasy Coast’, 137–155.

55 VOC 4012, fol. 644–797.

56 VOC 4013, fol. 891–1054.

57 The voyages of the Voorhout are treated o.a. in: COACM III (Paris 1905) 381; James J. Ravell, ‘The VOC Slave Trade Between Cape Town and Madagascar’ (interim report) 1978. Barendse,‘Slaving on the Malagasy Coast’, 155–153; Armstrong,‘Madagascar and the Slave Trade’, 214, 217, 226–228;and ‘Malagasy Slave Names’, 45–51.

58 One guilder is twenty stivers; one stiver is sixteen pennies. The pennies will be dropped, the amounts being rounded up or down to stivers and guilders.

59 See note 25. For the trip of the Voorhout in 1677 the heavy Mexican real was rated at sixty stivers, and the Spanish real at 49 3/8 stivers (VOC 4013, fol. 891r.).

60 The Negros cloth, one hundred pieces amounting to one hundred and eighty guilders were to serve as clothing for the slaves. A simple cotton fabric, mainly produced in Bengal, of which large quantitieswere imported into West Africa; it had to be distinguished from Guinea linen also destined for the West African coast, and costed onehundred and fifty-two stivers a piece.

61 Lbs. i.e. Amsterdam pound = 494.09 grams.

62 A mass is a bundle of strings of beads.

63 A kelder contains fifteen bottles.

64 The residence of the king of ‘Maselage’ or ‘New Maselage’ was the island of Magelage, now Langany, situated at the Bay of Boeny. ‘Maningaer’ is probably Manara, the old pame of the river Betsiboka, which discharges in the bay of Bombetoka. Armstrong, ‘Madagascar and the Slave Trade’, 213–215.

65 COACM III, 381, gives nine miles, i.e. former Dutch sea miles of 5 7/8 km.

66 VOC 4012, fol. 680–681, 704.

67 A Portuguese captain was commissioned by the viceroy of Goa to carry out a punitive expedition against the king of Magelage as his subjects had massacred seven Portuguese. See: Barendse, ‘Slaving on theMadagascar Coast’, 138. Armstrong, ‘Madagascar and the Slave Trade’, 214, 216: the reference KA 3989 is changed in VOC 4012.

68 For the interpreter the Arab Simon (Sayyid), see Armstrong, ‘Madagascar and the Slave Trade’, 232–233.

69 Fine cloth like a veil named after the place Oragel near Golcanda, costing eighteen guilders a piece.

70 Fine cloth from legia silk.

71 Adateis: mousseline of good quality woven near Dacca, costing three guilders and seventeen stivers a piece.

72 A main is about 2 1/8 lbs.

73 VOC 4012, fol. 672.

74 Letter of credence for the king of Magelage in Dutch, sent with theVoorhout in 1677. Whether this letter was translated into Arabic, is unknown: VOC 4013, fol. 195. Another letter for the sovereign ofMagelage composed in Latin was sent with the Westerwijck in 1685: VOC 4022, fol. 410–411. By virtue of article thirty-five of the charter granted to the United East India Company by the States General of the Dutch Republic, the governors of the VOC were empowered to enter into contracts and agreements with the princess and rulers within the borders of the territory as determined by the charter. The VOC's territory extended to the east of Cape of Good Hope as far as the Strait Magelanes (to the south of Chile).

75 Slaves imported by the ‘Hoevase natie’recorded 3 and 9 September 1676: VOC 4012, fol. 691 v., 693 v.

76 Baftas from Persian bàfta meaning woven; fine cotton cloth, black and white.

77 The financial data in the logbook do not always exactly correspond with those in the ledger.

78 22 September 1676: VOC 4012, fol. 697 r.

79 VOC 4012, fol. 723 v.

80 The price paid for slaves on the Malagasy north-west coast in 1676 did not deviate much from the average slave price on the African west coast at the time: Postma, Johannes Menne, The Dutch in the AtlanticSlave Trade, 1600–1815 (Cambridge 1990) 264CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

81 Armstrong, ‘Madagascar and the Slave Trade’, 229. See for instance: VOC 11257 (without folionumber) Dagregister Binnenwijsent, 1732. Shell, Robert C.H., Children of bondage: A Social History of the Slave Society at the Cape of Good Hope, 1652–1838 (Hanover, NH 1994) 43–44, 435.Google Scholar

82 Armstrong, James C., ‘The slaves, 1652–1795’ in: Elphic, Richard and Giliomee, Herman eds, The shaping of South African Society, 1652–1820 (Cape Town 1979) 83Google Scholar; Ross, Robert, Cape of Torments, Slavery and Resistance in South Africa (London 1983) 13Google Scholar; Shell, Children of Bondage, 43–45. At the Cape slaves either belonged to the Company, to Company officials or to private settlers. Company slaves, women and men, lived in what was called the ‘Lodge’ and were employed in various occupations like building works, fixing roads or tending the Company's garden. They were subjected to a harsh military discipline and most of them performed heavy manual labour in the so called ‘general works’. Company ships were sent out especially to supply the Lodge with slaves and as a result a considerable amount of the Company slaves were of Malagasy descent. Shell, Children of Bondage, 68, 149, 172–205.

83 VOC 4143, fol. 1758–1774. Instruction Brack leaving for Madagascar to barter slaves on behalf of the Government at the Cape. Cape of Good Hope, 11 October 1740.

84 VOC 4149, fol. 240–485. Copy dagregister of the Brack, 4 May - 25 December 1741. Published in: Grandidier, COACMWl (Paris 1913) 52–196.

85 VOC 4149, fol. 268; COACMWl, 59.

86 VOC 4149, fol. 348–439; COACMVl, 108–187.

87 VOC 4155, fol. 1828–1896. Dagregister Brack, 1742–1743. An identical version can be found in: VOC 10813.

88 VOC 4157, fol. 106–173. Dagregister Brack, Cape of Good Hope, 28 November 1743.

89 See for instance: VOC 4187, fol. 230–312. Dagregister Schuylenburg, 1752–1753. An identical version can be found in: VOC 10814.

90 VOC 4283, fol. 300–349. Dagregister Zon 1769–1770.

91 VOC 4292, fol. 334–338. Instruction for the officers of the frigate Jagtrust, Cape of Good Hope, 6 May 1780.

92 A systematic study of die ships' logs of this final phase of the VOC (in 1795 the organisation was dissolved) will surely reveal more information about the causes. The dramatic disintegration of the shipping system to die Cape and to Batavia, a direct result of the Anglo-Dutch War (1780–1784), is one of the explanations suggested by Shell, Children of Bondage, 43–45.

93 For the seventeenth century a list of names has been published: Armstrong, ‘Malagasy Slave Names in the Seventeenth Century’, 43–59.

94 VOC 4157, fol. 106–173.

95 VOC 4187, fol. 230–312.

96 VOC 4261, fol. 166–222. Dagregister Zon, 1770–1771. Other revolts took place on the ships: DrieHeuvelm 1753, VOC 10815 (without folionumber), Meermin 1766, VOC 4245, fol. 58–106, Zon 1775–1776, VOC 4208, fol. 297–343.

97 VOC 4083, fol. 85–124. Dagregister Barnevelt, 1719–1720. Published in: Grandidier, COACM V, 1–46.

98 VOC 4143, fol. 1758–1774.