To make matters worse, Mendana himself fell ill and died, and the grand scheme which, under favourable circumstances, might have resulted in the foundation of a Spanish Australian Empire, was, perforce, abandoned for the while.

The remnant of this disastrous expedition, having repaired to the Philippine Islands, returned to New Spain in the year 1596.
AN EARLY MAP OF THE SOLOMONS ISLANDS.
The discovery of true Solomon Islands was soon forgotten and Mendana's vague notions about them led historians and geographers astray as to their position and size.* [* In a map of the South Sea, _Mar del Zur_, published towards the year 1650, the Solomon Islands are represented as extending in a sweeping curve, resembling their natural trend it is true, but the position is from the locality of New Caledonia and New Zealand, right across the Pacific Ocean to the south of Cape Horn.

In that distance 40 islands are represented, of an average size equal to the two large islands of New Zealand, truly a magnificent mistake!] In the few old maps that exist, it is difficult to determine precisely in what measure the members of the expedition are responsible for the charting; some of it is certainly the guesswork of geographers, based, it must be acknowledged, on the best information then available, for we must bear in mind that the accounts of Mendana's expedition were only known from a few extracts, the actual narratives being lost at the time these charts were draughted.
Now that some of those narratives have been found, it is easy to identify the present day Solomon Islands with the group discovered by the Spaniards; most of the latitudes in the old chart that I give here, agree with those given by Herrera, the Spanish historian, which shows that if they have been thrown out of position, as they are on some old charts, it is through the fault of the map-makers.
The map given here is by Mazza, an Italian geographer of distinction; it is the earliest one that I have been able to procure, the earliest known to exist, the date being between 1583 and 1589.
I have marked on it the probable track of the ships; the first bay where they anchored, and which was called _Baya de la Estrella_, is marked by No.1.The second anchorage, on the coast of Guadalcanal, marked No.

2, was named _Puerto de la Cruz_; and the locality where the third sojourn was made, and where the brigantine was abandoned, is marked by the No.

3.
The island thus marked, bears no name on the map; it is the southernmost large island, however, and corresponds therefore with _San Christobal_, where the third and last sojourn was made, and where, at a later period, a colony was to have been founded.
The island bearing the name _Nombre de Jesus_, is misnamed, evidently as the result of interference on the part of the cartographer, for, according to the narrative, it lies at many days' sail from the first land sighted in the Solomon Group, and has been identified, as I have said before, with Nukufetau in the Ellice Group.
Other mistakes of the map-maker are, _Amacifre_ instead of _Arecifes_ reefs; and _Maiulata_ for _Malaita_.