Nendo

Nendö is the largest island of the Santa Cruz group, east of the main Solomon Islands. Its forested hills rise behind bays and reefs; its inhabitants maintained their own networks of exchange across the neighbouring islands. In 1595 Álvaro de Mendaña attempted to establish a Spanish settlement at Graciosa Bay. Illness and conflict weakened the expedition, and Mendaña died there before the survivors abandoned the settlement and sailed west.