European exploration of Africa
One of the ships under command of Diogo Dias arrived at a coast that was not in East Africa. Two years later, a chart already showed an elongated island east of Africa that bore the name Madagascar. But only a century later, between 1613 and 1619, did the Portuguese explore the island in detail. They signed treaties with local chieftains and sent the first missionaries, who found it impossible to make locals believe in Hell, and were eventually expelled.
Linguistic variety in Mauritius
Mauritius was first discovered by Arab sailors during the 5th century. The island was rediscovered by the Portuguese during the 16th century. At the same time, the latter also noticed the existence of other territories located in the Pacific Ocean, near Madagascar. Nevertheless, this new territorial awareness did not urge the Portuguese to settle in the newly discovered islands so that this geographical area will only be exploited later on to become a series of international centres where different ethnic groups will meet and therefore create a new heterogeneous culture. In the 17th century, the Dutch and the French began to develop an interest for these new territories. This interest was motivated by strategic and commercial reasons though they failed in their attempt to colonize the previously mentioned area. Indeed, the Dutch left the island in 1710 after having honoured their Prince, Maurice of Nassau, by naming the island "Mauritius". With the arrival of the French, this denomination will be replaced by "Île de France".