[50] Murderer's Bay, a name subsequently changed to Massacre Bay, or Golden Bay--from the later discovery of gold in this region. [Illustration: TASMAN'S MEN ATTACKED BY NATIVES OFF THE COAST OF NEW ZEALAND] On this same day, 19 December, 1642, Tasman bestowed on this new country the name of Staten Landt, "in honour of their high mightinesses the States-General of Holland". This name seems really to have been bestowed on account of the much earlier discovery by the Dutch navigator, le Maire, of an island off the south-easternmost extremity of South America (Tierra del Fuego), which Tasman seems to have thought to be the beginning of an Antarctic continent, of which New Zealand was the north-westernmost extremity. But after Tasman's return to Java the Governor-General considered that the two regions were too far separated and distinct to be parts of the same land surface; so he changed the named to Nieuw Zeeland (New Zealand), in honour of the Zeeland (Sealand) province of south-west Holland. On 5 January, 1643, they attempted to land on one of the Three Kings' Islands to fill their water casks before directing their course once more across a wide stretch of unknown ocean, but the heavy surf and the rocks made such an attempt too dangerous. The natives, moreover, were very threatening, standing about on the high land armed with long sticks shaped like pikes, and shouting every now and again what seemed to be hostile utterances. So it was decided to do without the fresh water, in the hope that they might reach other islands farther north where it could be obtained. Accordingly, on 6 January the two ships once more set sail across the Pacific Ocean, directing their course as nearly as possible for the Solomon Islands. On 19 and 20 January they sighted Tropic Bird Island, and two other small islands, which they named Amsterdam and Middelburgh. These were the southernmost islands of the Tonga or Friendly group, probably those which are now known by the names of Tongatabu (Amsterdam, "because of the abundance of refreshments we got there"), Eua (Middelburgh), and Cattow.