_Sunday, 11th._--The weather more moderate. I conducted Morning Prayer both in English and Mota, and generally our passengers were getting over their indisposition. It was not a very profitable day however to me, for I could not settle to anything: our Service hours on Sunday, at sea, are English Mattins at 9 o’clock a.m. and Evensong at 7 p.m. Mota 11 a.m. and 7.30 p.m. Our daily hours for meals are 8 a.m. breakfast, 12 noon lunch, 5 p.m. dinner. On Sunday this is slightly changed, and we dine at 1, and tea at 5 p.m. At anchor, too, the English Morning Service is postponed to 10 a.m., and all the sailors are enabled to attend. Usually only one watch can be present while the vessel is at sea. This year we have a crew composed entirely of Englishmen. We have generally had previously a strong admixture of foreigners. The steward, indeed, is a German, but he has been with us so many voyages, speaks and reads English so well, that one quite forgets his nationality. The crew are a very nice, quiet, well-behaved set of men, and all look so respectable. I believe the Captain has many applications for billets on board the _Southern Cross_, she being a popular vessel now-a-days, besides, a trip in her is a paying affair, for I am told that sometimes the men realize from £10 to £30 and £40 by the sale of curios alone. The great collector on board now is John Brown the boatswain, and he has accumulated quite a museum, which he meditates taking to England for sale next year. Brown is an old Island Trader, and knows all the specialities of the trade and what will captivate the native taste. Penny whistles and half-penny looking glasses, I believe, are the line this trip. There is very keen competition too on board when the curio fields are reached, chiefly at Santa Cruz and some of the Solomon Islands. Sunday passed away somewhat profitlessly, and evening once more closed over a day past and gone. I did not give the sailors a Sermon, but reserved my efforts for the Melanesians, many of whom were able to attend. I naturally chose the subject of the Gospel as the basis of my remarks, viz: the recovery of the lost sheep and the piece of money, which I applied to the condition of the heathen to whom we were going, and our duty as seekers of those who were still wandering upon the mountains and upon every high hill, with none caring for them or seeking them out. We had some singing after the service, and the termination of the day at least was pleasant, and I hope profitable. One’s thoughts naturally wandered away back to Norfolk Island, and one thought of the quiet peaceful Sunday evenings there, and the love of those we had left. The vessel was much more at her ease this evening, and we could undress and rest in bed with more comfort. It was a great pleasure to me from this time forward, to see the boys dropping into the cabin one by one to say their prayers, unbidden but none the less welcome.