that the attempt had failed utterly.
It seems that he climbed the rigging
about ten o'clock and found both
birds still on the yard but they
would not permit him to lay hands
on them. As he crawled out on the
yard they keep [sic] [kept] moving along just
beyond his reach. On reaching the
end of their perch they simply
spread their wings and circling back
passed around and realighted behind
him. Thus he chased them back 
& forth until he was tired of it. 
He says that both birds left the
ship at daybreak this morning.
The night was clear with some light
from the stars & sky but no moon
- neither a very dark nor very bright
night. Our anchorage was within
200 yards or less of land.