On the 21st of January, 1643, he saw three islands, in latitude 21° south: he named them Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Middlebourg. The inhabitants were peaceable and friendly, were unacquainted with the use of weapons, and very skilful in stealing. The natives called Amsterdam Tonga-Tabou; Rotterdam, Ana-Mocka; and Middlebourg, Eoa. These are now the principal members of the group known as the Friendly Islands. They remained unvisited by Europeans from the time of Tasman, in 1643, to the second voyage of Cook, in 1773,--a space of one hundred and thirty years. Cook found traditions still existing respecting Tasman's ships; and a nail was shown him which had been left by the Dutch navigator. Proceeding to the north and then to the west, Tasman discovered a group of twenty islands, girt with shoals and sands. He named them Prince William's Islands and Heemskirk's Shallows. These now form the eastern portion of the Feejee archipelago. They remained unvisited for a century and a half, until the people of the Friendly Islands spoke of them to Cook and his successors and induced them to visit them. Tasman now feared that the currents and winds had driven him more to the westward than he had supposed; for he had not seen the sun for many weeks, and was consequently without reliable observations. He resolved to make for the north, and then for the western coast of New Guinea, in order not to be driven to the south of the island and pass it without seeing it. [Illustration: NATIVES OF MURDERERS' BAY.] On the 1st of April, he saw the coast of what he supposed was New Guinea, but which was in reality New Britain. Here an earthquake terrified the seamen, for the shock caused them to fear they had struck upon a rock; but the lead did not reach the bottom. On the 20th, they passed a burning island, noticed by late navigators, and perceived flames issuing from lofty mountains. The water was full of shrubs, bamboos, and small trees, carried by the rivers to the sea. The discharge of fresh water by these rivers was such that it almost corrected the salt of the ocean. The natives showed Tasman some ginger, and sold him hogs and cocoanuts. At the island of Moa he found the inhabitants speaking a language so copious, that they could at once repeat, intelligibly, the words of any other language. Tasman did not find it so easy to speak theirs, however, as the letter _r_ occurred once or more in every syllable. He purchased, for knives made of the iron hoops of water-casks, six thousand cocoanuts and a hundred bunches of bananas, or Indian figs.