4 - The British Navy

Summary

This chapter presents the history of the third group of Madagascar Youths who Radama sent abroad as a result of the Britanno-Merina alliance. This group comprised the youths who from 1824 served as apprentices on British naval vessels under the Cape Command, one of the main tasks of which was to counter the western Indian Ocean slave trade. The chapter examines the role of Madagascar in the regional slave trade, the strategy adopted by the British to suppress that trade, notably the desire that Radama build a navy to patrol Malagasy waters, and the training of a select group of Madagascar Youths aboard British naval vessels in the expectation that they would subsequently man Radama’s fleet.