His fortunes changed from 1817 onwards when governor of Mauritius Robert Farquhar, in a bid to counter the slave traffic from Madagascar and to curb the influence of the French, signed a treaty of friendship with Radama.
[6] However, Ratsitatanina escaped and was later captured in the mountains behind the capital of Port Louis by a private militia of maroon-hunters led by Franco-Mauritian lawyer and politician Adrien d'Épinay.
[8] An unlikely plot to lead a revolt of slaves and apprentices and to massacre the White inhabitants of Port Louis was imputed to Ratsitatanina and was eagerly believed by the jittery citizens.
[9][3] A novel based on his life, Ratsitatane : épisode historique de Maurice by Mauritian author Lucien Brey (pseudonym of Walter Edgar Acton), first appeared as a feuilleton in the magazines Port-Louis Revue (1878) and Le voleur mauricien (1888-1889).
Considered the first historical play of Mauritius, the piece challenges the traditional representation of Ratsitatanina as a savage who abducted a French woman, raped her and drove her to suicide, and instead portrays a shrewd politician who works to rid Madagascar of British influence.