Proper noun
Mascarene Islands
An archipelago in the Indian Ocean, consisting of Mauritius, Réunion, Rodrigues and the Cargados Carajos.
Europeans (from 1500) Map of Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands (1502) European contact began in 1500, when the Portuguese sea captain Diogo Dias sighted the island after his ship separated from a fleet going to India. Source: Internet