their paddles and turned back with shouts. Mendaña thereupon ordered signals to be made to them with a white cloth to try to get them to return, instead of which they landed and in turn stuck up signals along the shore. At night one of the ships showed a light, it was copied by a fire, and when it was put out the fire extinguished also. Hernán Gallego, Mendaña's pilot, says the natives were "naked and mulattoes" and Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa, cosmographer in the expedition reported that the island "had a large fishery". As it was late Mendaña decided to defer landing until the morning and kept the ships tacking all night. With the dawn, however, a strong westerly storm blew up, and although they tried all day to regain the island they were at length compelled to give up. A Dutch expedition (the frigate Maria Reijgersbergen) found Nui on the morning of 14 June 1825 and named the main island (Fenua Tapu) as Nederlandsch Eiland (Dutch Island). The atoll has been called Egg or Netherland Island. The population of Nui from 1860 to 1900 is estimated to be between 250 and 300 people. Kirisome, was Nui's first and long serving pastor (1865–99). Martin Kleis was the resident trader on Nui in the late 19th century who sold copra to Henderson and Macfarlane. The photographer Thomas Andrew visited Nui in about 1885–86. Nui Post Office opened around 1919 and a climate station was established in 1941. The traditional outrigger canoes (paopao) from Nui were constructed with an indirect type of outrigger attachment and the hull is double-ended, with no distinct bow and stern. These canoes were designed to be sailed over the Nui lagoon. The booms of the outrigger are longer than those found in other designs of canoes from the other islands. This made the Nui canoe more stable when used with a sail than the other designs. Celebrations are held on Nui on 16 February – Bogin te Ieka (Day of the Flood) – to commemorate the Tsunami that struck the island on that day in 1882. Cyclone Pam, March 2015 Nui was affected by storm surges caused by Cyclone Pam in early March 2015, which caused damage to houses, crops and infrastructure. On 22 March 71 families (40 per cent of the population) of Nui remained displaced and were living in 3 evacuation centres or with