African High Sea

South of Rodrigues, the waters of the Indian Ocean stretch away from the island's coral reef and lagoon. Rodrigues is the most isolated of the principal Mascarene Islands, far east of Mauritius and Réunion. François Leguat and his companions landed there in 1691 and departed in 1693; a French settlement followed in 1735. The surrounding sea connected the island with its neighbours while making the distance between them a formidable passage.