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.