In the early years the predominant form of resistance to banishment and imprisonment was exhibited in the various escapes by prisoners. David Stuurman, a Khoikhoi leader successfully escaped from the Island just four months after he was imprisoned there. He was only recaptured 10 years later and sent back to the Island. He escaped for a second time in 1820. Makanda, a Xhosa Leader imprisoned on the Island in 1819, spent less than a year there before attempting to escape.
