History
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 presently, most inhabitants of the island are of the Catholic faith. French colonists on La Digue manufactured coral lime and they are believed to be responsible for the declining of the island's coral reefs. They also made cupra out of coconuts and they planted vanilla on their plantations, which still carry on with the tradition.
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“History is more or less bunk. It’s tradition. We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker’s damn is the history we make today.”
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