The twin islands of Agalega may have been known to the Malays and to the Arabs. They may also have been perceived by the Portuguese, those indefatigable sailors who scoured the Indian Ocean in the XVIth century. It may equally be true that, when in 1512 Don Pedro de Masceranhas visited the already known Archipelago of Mauritius and Bourbon and called them by the collective name of the Mascarenes, he also gave the names of Agalega and Ste. Marie (off the East coast of Madagascar) in honour of two of his ships, "Le Galega" and "Santa Maria".

The Cargados Carajos Group of Islands or St. Brandon is a group of 28 islets situated at approximately 450 kms to the North North East of Mauritius at 16030S and 59035 E.

According to a publication by France Staub and Joseph Gueho contained in the proceedings of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences of Mauritius, in 1546, the Portuguese chartered two groups of islets, Sao Brandao and Cargados Carajos, placing them close together on the map. These are the groups now known to comprise a single cluster of reefs and islets known as the Cargados Carajos shoals, or by the name most commonly used in Mauritius, St. Brandon.