Norfolk Island 559

     In 1568 the Solomon Islands were discovered by Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira. He, and Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa, the Master of the Route, sailed from Callao, Peru in 1567. Mendaña named the islands for the legendary islands of King Solomon of Israel (961-922 B.C). Mendaña destroyed Gamboa's journals and maps and abandoned him in Mexico in order to take credit for the discovery. He was denied that credit, but allowed to make another voyage to the islands in 1595, where he discovered the Marquesas Islands. Mendaña died on this voyage in 1596.
      On the stamp Mendaña's name is misspelled Alvaro de Mendana, without the accents. Also, the name Santiago is sometimes mistaken for the starting place of the voyage, which would be an error, but the name refers to the ship Santiago, which Mendaña commanded on the first voyage.