The _Hecla_ rounded Hakluyt Headland and reached the high latitude of 81° 5′ N. on June 14th, 1827. Parry then placed the ship in a good harbour called Hecla Cove, on the north coast of Spitsbergen, in 79° 55′ N. and 16° 53′ E. Crozier was left in command, and Foster was fully occupied with his scientific observations. The two boats, called the _Enterprise_ and _Endeavour_, left Hecla Cove on the 21st of June, Parry and Dr Beverley being in the first, James Ross and Bird in the second, with ten seamen and two marines in each. The boats were flat-bottomed, 20 feet long, with an extreme width of 7 feet carried well fore and aft. Their timbers were of tough oak and hickory. On the outside of the frame a new system of planking was adopted, in order to secure elasticity in the frequent concussions with the ice. It consisted first of a covering of waterproof canvas coated with tar, then a thin fir plank, then a sheet of felt, and lastly a thin oak plank, all secured to the timbers by screws. On each side of the keel there was a strong runner shod with metal, on which the boat rested when on the ice. A hide span across the fore part of the runners had two horsehair drag-ropes attached to it. The boats had two thwarts, a locker at each end, and a light framework along the sides for provisions and spare clothing; they carried a bamboo mast and tanned duck sail, 14 paddles, and a steer oar. They started with 71 days’ provisions. The weight of each boat was 1539 lb., when loaded 3753 lb., or 268 lb. per man, besides four light sledges weighing 26 lb. each. The daily allowance for each man was 10 oz. of biscuit, 9 oz. of pemmican, 1 oz. of cocoa, and a gill of rum. They slept in the boats and travelled at night. When they started the weather was calm and clear, and as they paddled past the Seven Islands with loose sailing ice ahead the prospect looked very favourable. But on the 23rd they came to the close pack and hauled the boats up on the ice in 81° 12′ 5″ N. The travelling work then began and was most laborious and disheartening. The floes were of small extent intersected by high ridges of hummocks, necessitating constant launching and hauling up of the boats. The snow was soft, and there were pools of water knee-deep on the floes. It was not until July 7th that they reached a level floe, and on the 11th ridges of hummocks 30 and 40 feet high were again encountered. On the 22nd they at length came to large floes some miles in extent, but it was too late. The southerly drift of the ice was increasing to such an extent that they lost by drift as much as they gained by many hours of laborious and fatiguing work at the drag-ropes. Parry at length determined to retrace his steps. His highest latitude was 82° 45′, the highest that anyone attained for the next half-century. They were 172 miles from the _Hecla_, having travelled over 292 miles of ground--200 by water before reaching the ice and 92 over the floes.