- Vanikolo Islands
Vanikoro Islands (also known as Vanikolo Islands) is an island group in the
Santa Cruz Islands , located 118 km to the Southeast of the main Santa Cruz group. These islands belong administratively to theTemotu Province of theSolomon Islands .The main island is
Banie . Other islands in the Vanikoro group includeTevai ,Manieve ,Nomianu andNanuga . The area of the Vanikoro Islands is 173 km² and they have a population of 800 inhabitants.French explorer
La Pérouse was stranded on Vanikoro after both his vessels, "La Boussole" and the "Astrolabe", struck the then unknown reefs of the island in1788 . It is reported that some of the men were killed by the local inhabitants, whilst the surviving sailors built a smaller vessel and left the island, but were never seen again. Those that remained on the island died before search parties arrived in1826 .Jules Verne dedicates a chapter of his novelTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea to this event.References
* [http://solomonislands.com.sb/vanikoro.html]
*Verne, Jules. "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea." Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Classics, 1992. pp. 81-85
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