African High Sea

North of Réunion, the open Indian Ocean separates the Mascarene Islands from Madagascar. Southeast trade winds prevail across these waters during much of the cooler season; tropical cyclones can also pass through the region. Réunion, a volcanic island once called Bourbon by the French, became a permanent settlement in the seventeenth century. Its position made the surrounding sea part of a wider network of voyages between Madagascar, the other Mascarenes and more distant shores.