MYSTERY ISLAND’S ORIGINAL name was Inyeug, which means small island. Inyeug is one of the forty islands and islets of Vanuatu, settled by Melanesians around 1300 BCE. They left Mystery Island alone because they believed evil spirits, or their ancestor’s ghosts, dwelled there. If they visited the island, they’d leave before nightfall.
Millennia later, in 1606 CE, Portuguese explorer Pedro Fernandes de Queirós landed in Vanuatu and named the Big Island Espiritu Santo. Later explorers included Louis Antoine de Bougainville and Captain Cook.
There are two theories as to why Inyeug was nicknamed Mystery Island. The first occurred in the seventies or eighties during Queen Elizabeth II’s visit. Journalist were confused about Inyeug meaning small island, and they reported it as Mystery Island.
