1767-Feb.

1767-Feb. (approx.): Several newly arrived enslaved women of the Congo nation, named Pelagie, Louison, and Marie-Marthe, were reported as runaways from Fort-Dauphin. They carried a complex brand of intertwined letters “MD” on their right breasts, marking them as property in the colonial system. Other fugitives in the district included Pierre, a man of the Fond nation branded “BALON,” and Baptiste, a Congo man from the Vareux estate. These notices emphasize that even those who had only recently arrived in the colony frequently sought freedom through immediate flight.