8th May 1898
Sunday.
Our officers availed themselves of a little shooting, but
the only birds that came across ship' path was pigeons, in the afternoon the
missionaries from the Southern Cross, came on board bringing with them twenty
of their reformed Natives belonging to different Islands most of them spoke
English very well having beento the
Mission School on Norfolk Island which they said they liked very well indeed
and was very sorry to have to leave it, they were now going back to their own
islands to teach their own people about Civilization & the bible, during the
afternoon our men went away seineing for the 1st time, but was unsuccessful
owing to the seine getting foul of the coral which the bottom is covered with Seine
net.
Seining is I have discovered a type of large net fishing that is made to hang vertically in the water by weights at the lower edge and floats at the top.