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Narrative of' an Attempt to reach the North Pole, in Boats yU- 

 ted Jar the purpose, and attaclied to His Mc0esty's ship Hecla, 

 in the year 1827, under tlie command of Captain W, E. 

 Parry, R. iST., F. R, S. L., S^c. 4to. Murray 1828. 



J\. COPY of Captain Parry's Narrative having just reached us, 

 we hasten to lay before our readers a few of the many interest- 

 ing details it contains. This remarkable enterprise was under- 

 taken under the auspices of the Lords of the Admiralty, at the 

 suggestion of Captain Parry, and the recommendation of the 

 Royal Society of London. Its professed object was to attempt 

 reaching the North Pole, by means of travelling with sledge- 

 boats over the ice, or through any space of open water that 

 might occur. So early as the year 1815, the celebrated navi- 

 gator William Scoresby jun. in a highly interesting memoir, 

 read before the Wernerian Society, and published in the second 

 volume of their memoirs, proposed a plan for travelling over the 

 ice to the North Pole. Afterwards, a similar project was sug- 

 gested by Captain Franklin ; and this finally led to the proposal 

 of Captain Parry, which met with the approbation and support 

 of Government. 



The Hecla, already famous in the annals of Arctic enterprise, 

 which had so often braved the storms and ices of the north, 

 was again commissioned. A crew and officers familiar with the 

 Arctic Seas were selected, and every arrangement made to se- 

 cure their health and comfort. The Chief of the Admiralty, 

 Lord Melville, having visited the Hecla, and expressed his ap- 

 probation of the equipment, orders for saihng were issued. On 

 the 4th of April 1827 the expedition left the shores of Eng- 

 land, bearing with it the wishes and hopes of Britain, and 

 indeed of the civilized world, for its safety and success. 



After an agreeable voyage, they reached the interesting station 

 of Hammerfest, at the northern extremity of Norway, on the 19th 

 of April. Here they remained until the 29th, on which day they 

 set sail for Spitzbergen. After encountering much op)X)sition 

 from the ice and the weather, Captain Parry succeeded, but not 

 until the 20th of June, in securing the Hecla, in a harbour in 

 Spitzbergen, which he named Hecla Cove. On the 21st of June 



