 The Bara and Sakalava were Madagascar's principal international slave traders through the early part of the 19th century.Historically the majority of slave raids were conducted in the dry winter months.Beginning in the 1870s, in response to increased cattle demand in South Africa following a series of blights and disease that had decimated local herds, the Bara began exporting their cattle internationally through southern coastal ports including Toliara, Saint Augustin, Belo and Soalara.