4 THE SIEGE OF THE NORTH POLE 



harbour for the Hecla, but it was not till the 20th June 

 that this was found in Treurenburg Bay. During this 

 search Parry reached as far north as 81° 5', and landed 

 a small store of provisions on Walden Island, and another 

 on an islet near Little Table Island. 



Preparations were now made to leave the ship on the 

 journey to the north. Parry writes : " As it was still 

 necessary not to delay our return beyond the end of 

 August, the time originally intended, I took with me 

 only seventy-one days 1 provisions ; which, including the 

 boats and every other article, made up a weight of 260 lb. 

 per man ; and as it appeared highly improbable, from 

 what we had seen of the very rugged nature of the ice 

 we should first have to encounter, that either the reindeer, 

 the snow-shoes, or the wheels would prove of any service 

 for some time to come, I gave up the idea of taking 

 them. We, however, constructed out of the snow-shoes 

 four excellent sledges for dragging a part of our baggage 

 over the ice, and these proved of invaluable service to us, 

 while the rest of the things just mentioned would only 

 have been an encumbrance."" 



The Hecla was left on the 21st June, and Low Island 

 was reached on the 22nd. One of the ship's cutters 

 accompanied the two boats in order to carry part of 

 the provisions which were to be landed on Low Island 

 and on Walden Island. Open Mater for the boats was 

 found until they reached latitude 81° 12' 51", which was 

 now the highest that had ever been reached. Scoresby, 

 in 1806, had reached 81° 12' 42", and with this exception 

 no one had ever reached the 81st degree. 



Parry now writes : " Our plan of travelling being 

 nearly the same throughout this excursion, after we first 

 entered upon the ice, I may at once give some account 

 of our usual mode of proceeding. It was my intention 

 to travel wholly at night, and to rest by day, there being, 



