1502 to 1755

Islands without people

No one lived on these islands before Europeans came. A Portuguese fleet under Vasco da Gama sights the Amirantes in 1502, and an English East India Company ship, the Ascension, visits in 1609. In 1742 the governor of French Mauritius, Mahe de La Bourdonnais, sends Lazare Picault to explore them; the main island will carry his name, Mahe.