According to modern historians,
La Digue was first sighted by the French navigator Lazare Picault in 1742, but
it was not until 1768 when it gained its name. The first people settled on the
island in 1789, when French colonists arrived with their African slaves. Most
of them went back to France, but some people were left and quite a few of
today's inhabitants still carry their names. Later, more French deportees
arrived, followed by a large number of liberated slaves and Asian immigrants.
In 1854, the first Catholic chapel was built on La Digue by Father Theophile
and
